Virtual Coral Gardens

Problem Statement

Coral reefs are among the most fragile ecosystems on the planet, facing severe threats from climate change. Rising ocean temperatures and acidification have led to widespread coral bleaching, endangering marine biodiversity. Despite conservation efforts, public awareness of coral restoration remains limited. The challenge was to create an immersive and interactive way to educate users on the importance of coral farming and how they can contribute to reef restoration.

Solution Overview

Our virtual reality experience, "Coral Gardens," transports users into the world of coral restoration. The experience allows users to step into the role of a marine scientist, interact with coral fragments, and actively participate in reef restoration efforts. Through hands-on learning, engaging visuals, and interactive mechanics, users gain insight into how climate change affects coral reefs and what conservation efforts can be taken to reverse damage.

The VR experience consists of three key locations:

• Coral Collection Zone – Users grab coral fragments to begin the restoration process.

• Bleached Reef Area – Demonstrates the devastating effects of climate change on coral.

• New Coral Garden – Users plant and restore coral in a healthy reef environment.

Main Goals

• Create an immersive and educational VR experience that effectively conveys the impact of climate change on coral ecosystems.

• Implement interactive elements that engage users through hands-on tasks, such as collecting and planting coral.

• Ensure smooth performance and usability by optimising assets, interactions, and rendering for a seamless VR experience.

• Provide an engaging and visually appealing environment using high-quality 3D assets and animations.

Challenges and Issues

Developing "Coral Gardens" came with several technical and logistical challenges:

• Team Constraints & Time Management – With only two team members, workload distribution was crucial. Despite time limitations, we successfully completed a functional prototype.

• Teleportation & Interaction Bugs – Early versions had issues with teleportation targets not registering correctly. This was resolved by placing separate interaction points on top of stones.

• Hardware Limitations – Due to limited headset availability, the experience was only tested through the XR Interaction Simulator, creating some uncertainty about real-world VR performance.

• Grabbable Coral Objects – Some coral assets were incompatible with grabbing scripts. We resolved this by switching to a different 3D model, though future iterations will include a wider variety of assets.

• Map Optimisation – Initially, the world map was too large, leading to performance concerns. Reducing its size improved gameplay and interaction fluidity.

Technologies used

• Unity – Primary game engine for developing the VR environment, implementing interactions, and optimising performance.

• XR Interaction Toolkit – Used to enable VR interactions like grabbing objects and teleportation.

• Pico VR Headset – Target hardware for the experience (though testing was done using the XR Interaction Simulator due to headset availability).

• C# Scripting – Custom scripts were written to handle user interactions, teleportation, and object manipulation.

• Occlusion Culling – Implemented to improve performance by reducing rendering load.

• 3D Assets (Unity Asset Store) – Pre-made coral reef assets were used to create a visually rich underwater environment.

• Animation Scripts – Added movement and subtle animations to coral pieces to enhance immersion.