Breathing Underwater: A 360° Immersive Experience

Project Overview

Breathing Underwater is an immersive 360° experience visualizing ocean acidification and its impact on marine ecosystems. Created for exhibition at Lightwaves festival in collaboration with Human Aquarium, this project translates complex environmental science into an engaging digital installation that educates viewers about how CO2 emissions affect underwater habitats.

My Role

As a team member, I served as:

Resource Investigator and Monitor Evaluator
Environmental science researcher
Motion design specialist
Marketing content creator

Process & Implementation

Concept Development

Our team explored various water sustainability topics before focusing on ocean acidification - a critical but underrecognized environmental issue. We aimed to make this invisible chemical process visually compelling through digital storytelling.

3D Production

Using Blender, we created a complete environment featuring:

Animated vehicles with CO2 emissions
Underwater scenes with coral and marine life
Environmental elements showing progressive acidification
Interactive navigation for audience exploration

The low-poly, cartoon aesthetic made serious subject matter accessible while maintaining scientific integrity, with color transitions showing environmental degradation.

Technical Development

The project evolved through several iterations:

Initial testing with VR headsets
Adaptation to 360° interactive screen format
Complex rendering requiring specialized equipment
Final delivery as an interactive 360° video experience

Key Challenges

Technical Challenge: Rendering complex animations required substantial computing power.
Solution: Utilized university resources and optimized workflow by rendering in stages.

Creative Challenge: Visualizing the invisible process of acidification.
Solution: Developed visual language using color changes and animation to illustrate chemical effects intuitively.

Impact