The focus of this film is on those tiny creatures, plankton more specifically Copepods. Plankton is very important for the planet, they produce almost half the oxygen we breathe and every marine ecosystem relies on them. Take a look at our VR film to see them up close.
This interactive experience allows the viewer to watch and listen to the marine biologists conduct their research, as well as allowing the viewer to manipulate the environment the plankton are in.
Why Plankton?
Plankton is very sensitive to changes in their environment. Because of this, they are great indicators of change in the marine environment. Changes in human activity and climate pressure are set to increase over the coming decades and with the help of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), it helps the MBA monitor, progress and manage what is happening at local, national and international levels.
The VR Experience
The VR film allows the viewer to climb on board the MBA research vessel and watch as scientists work with the CPR unit and learn more about how they work.
With the help of a 3D rendered world created in Unity, you will get lowered into the sea and can see the plankton up-close! And when the viewer uses the controller, they can change the temperature of the seawater and watch how that affects the Copepods and learn more in an interactive way.
Finally, we get to go into the labs at the MBA and see first-hand their important work, what they do with the samples collected from the sea, and what important information they get from it.
It was a fun learning experience, with skills we can definitely put to use when creating more interactive content like this.
We hope those who watch the film learn something new about Plankton and how they are so important to our lives. We certainly learned something new!
To watch a ‘making of’ video, click here.
To view more work from Soundview, click here.
