Virtual Worlds: Corals at the Grant Museum

Coral reefs sustain around 30% of all marine species, and the study and preservation of reef habitats are vitally important to planetary health. Their extreme complexity makes it difficult to understand how best to protect them, but modern technologies are being utilized to dramatically improve the prospects of successful reef conservation.

​

This project is based on the research and conservation fieldwork of UCL marine biologists Jason Lynch and
Ben Williams, who use photogrammetry and AI-assisted audio analysis respectively to measure the landscapes and soundscapes of reef ecosystems.

​

This real world data has been brought together by design collective Datascape Realities to create a pair of virtual reality experiences housed within two new furniture installations at the Grant Museum.

 

These experiences reconstruct real- world coral habitats within a re-imagined Grant Museum, where visitors can dive amongst healthy, degraded and restored corals, as well as drift through a reef landscape from the perspective of a tropical fish.

​

The project has been commissioned by UCL Museums, as part of the public programmes; offering new ways for audiences to connect with collections and UCL research.

​

Dates: September 2024 - January 2025

Location: The Grant Museum of Zoology