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Most of my life growing up was in the Marshall Islands, so
it is only fitting that my last summer in college I got spend time there,
working on a project centered on communicating climate change. The island I
grew up on has amazing reefs but climate change threatens their health. These impacts will be devastating to not only the reefs but the people that depend on them. To
promote student engagement with this issue, I collected 360 reef imagery at spots throughout the summer. These will then be used to create interactive websites and 360 timelapse videos.
Putting these images into a 360 VR experience will enable people to explore the reef they otherwise are unlikely to visit. One of my spots can be seen here: https://www.thinglink.com/mediacard/1107752829767909378
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And even on days without any animal sightings, the reef
itself is a great sight.
This same spot can be viewed in 360: https://www.thinglink.com/video/1108543111568556034
Connecting these images to each other or viewing locations through time creates an immersive experience that engages a user more than the regular image. This way students can feel more connected to the location, which encourages learning about its relevant issues- like climate change.
Toward the end of the summer I was also able to visit a
summer camp on Guegeegue, another island within the Marshall Islands, and share VR experiences and an activity with middle/high
school students. They were able to run through observations of various reefs
and compare them to images taken locally in the Marshalls, which turned to discussion on the role coral reefs play in their lives and geologically in the Marshall Islands.
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| Photo of 360 activity brought to Guegeegue. This included 360 reef print-outs as well as google cardboard headsets to view the images in VR. |
Overall, this summer was great- I got to spend a ton of time in the water, exploring reefs, and most of it with a lot of cameras!
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