Drop in the Ocean
Drop in the Ocean is a virtual reality experience created by Conservation International in 2019 to connect viewers to much-loved marine species and the plastic pollution that is threatening them. Participants put on a virtual reality headset and enter into the ocean as tiny plankton. There are “star” species that Drop in the Ocean chooses to highlight during a person’s journey, which are the moon jellyfish, leatherback turtle, comb jellyfish, whale shark, and, almost acting as the unsung hero, the Copepods, small bioluminescent organisms that feed multiple oceanic species. You can hitch a ride on the back of the turtle, become tangled in the tendrils of the moon jellyfish, appreciating their beauty and graceful movements, but then you can suddenly come face-to-face with a mound of ocean plastic. Conservation International partnered with micro-photographer Peter Parks to capture the scenes of ocean pollution participants encounter on their journey. This experience counters a criticism levied at other virtual reality experiences that are meant to inspire and connect people with nature by also showing the threats that these popular species face. It is not entirely clear if visitors are then given a path to action by being provided information on organizations that they can donate to clean up ocean pollution or conservation initiatives, which would nicely complement the awareness objectives of Drop in the Ocean.
Categories
Aesthetic/Leisure, Biodiversity, Immersive Technology, Pollution, Psychology
More Ideas
Air Pollution Robot
The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]
Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring
Telematic Rivers
Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Co-occupied Boundaries
Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies