V-CURRENTS: Virtual Collaborative Underwater Realities for Engagement and Novel Teaching Spaces

Ocean literacy–the understanding of how oceans influence the Earth’s ecosystems, their critical role in sustaining life on Earth, and the impact of human activities on the ocean–is essential for for making informed decisions for addressing fundamental environmental problems. However, the inaccessibility of oceans brings about special challenges for educators and decision makers. We describe our work on V-CURRENTS, a platform for creating underwater virtual reality field trips as an approach to address some of these challenges and promote ocean literacy through immersive technologies and immersive experiences. We sketch key components of the platform as well as exemplary application scenarios.