Astrobotany is both a vision of the future and a science, dealing with the possibilities, challenges and ethical issues involved in growing, cultivating and using plants under extremely hostile conditions, such as in space, the moon or other planets in our solar system. Plants in a world where humanity can only draw on what it has brought itself mean not only provision of food/building materials/medicines/etc., but also an access to Earth's nature and thus the possibility to escape a hostile machine environment. Astrobotany questions the relationship between humans, plants and nature in a completely fundamental way.

For this reason, the user of PLANTS-IN.SPACE is not and should not be a student, user or visitor, but a discoverer. The final application is a virtual reality experience that introduces the topic of astrobotany and addresses the opportunities, risks and challenges associated with research in this field. Virtual reality enables not only an immersive audiovisual experience, but also an interactive user experience. Especially in times when direct physical contact with fellow human beings should be avoided, VR can serve as a way to get in touch with others, to hold events virtually or to visit public places over the net.

Throughout the project, the main research was on how best to convey information in virtual space and how to design and build a virtual world/storyline. For me personally, however, both technology and the research field were in the foreground and so I dealt with fundamental questions such as: What added value do other living beings offer us? Why can't a virtual garden be a substitute? Where are the challenges in research? How do we want to redefine the value of the plant/botany for us, with regard to a destroyed or abandoned world in which plants are indebted to us or we are dependent on them?