Mobile Plant Health Visualizer Based on SI-NDVI Imaging and Augmented Reality Visualization for Space Greenhouses

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) technologies have gained importance in human-computer interaction (HCI) for workflow optimization, including in the space sector, where AR has been investigated to facilitate astronauts' workflows during space missions. One potential application for AR is in future greenhouses on the Moon and Mars to support in performing various plant cultivation tasks. Monitoring plant health is critical to achieving optimal crop yields, and Single-Image Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (SI-NDVI) imaging has been identified as a promising method for detecting plant stress before visual appearance. However, current methods for using SI-NDVI imaging require either multiple static-mounted imagers or expensive robotic systems, increasing the cost and complexity of such systems. In this paper, we present the development of a mobile plant health visualizer (MPHV) with a novel approach using AR to overlay a false color hologram based on SI-NDVI measurement in the real world. We report on the implementation and initial performance of the MPHV in detecting and visualizing plant stress responses in real-time and in situ using salinity stress tests on tomato plants. Our results demonstrate that the MPHV is a practical, and relatively simple system generating plant health information on-site, both in space and on Earth, with potential applications in greenhouses. This paper aims to demonstrate the significance of HCI in developing and optimizing systems for space missions.