MarineVR
An immersive VR educational experience developed for Western University that adapts MarineXR's marine biology concepts to leverage the unique capabilities of virtual reality—presence-driven interaction, room-scale exploration, and intuitive controller input for deeper engagement with ocean life.
About the Experience
MarineVR brings students face-to-face with marine life in virtual reality, creating a sense of presence and scale impossible to achieve on flat screens. The experience leverages room-scale VR and standing interactions to let users physically walk around and examine marine creatures, interact with educational content through natural hand gestures, and explore underwater environments.
Developed in Unity using the OpenVR SDK for Western University's educational program, MarineVR was deployed to support various VR hardware configurations including HTC Vive, Valve Index, and other OpenVR-compatible headsets. The experience supports both room-scale setups and standing-only interactions to accommodate different classroom and lab environments.
Educational Deployment
MarineVR was developed as an internal build for Western University's educational program, designed to complement their existing marine biology curriculum. The application was deployed to university VR labs and classrooms, providing students with hands-on virtual experiences that would be impossible or impractical in traditional educational settings.
The project served as a pilot program demonstrating the effectiveness of VR technology in higher education, particularly for subjects requiring spatial understanding and scale visualization that traditional teaching methods struggle to convey.
My Role & Contributions
Gameplay Programmer & Environment Artist
Developed core gameplay mechanics including the shark tagging system and underwater sequences, while optimizing graphics performance and crafting the ocean environment to create an immersive and visually convincing marine experience.
▸ Shark Tagging & Tracking System
- • Implemented the basking shark tagging mechanic that initiates the experience
- • Developed tagging interaction system for tracking shark migration patterns
- • Created feedback systems to communicate successful tagging to users
- • Designed progression flow from surface tagging to underwater exploration
▸ Underwater Sequence & Shark AI
- • Programmed underwater dive transition from surface to subsurface environment
- • Implemented basking shark spawning system with fog-based emergence from ocean depths
- • Developed AI behavior for sharks to naturally circle around the user
- • Created dynamic spawn patterns to maintain immersive encounters with marine life
▸ Graphics & Rendering Optimization
- • Optimized ocean rendering and shader performance for VR frame rate requirements
- • Tuned underwater fog and visibility systems for atmospheric depth while maintaining performance
- • Profiled and optimized shark models and animation systems for multiple active creatures
- • Balanced visual fidelity with performance to maintain smooth VR experience
▸ Environment Staging & Visual Polish
- • Staged above-ocean environment with distant islands to create convincing horizon
- • Tweaked ocean surface materials, waves, and lighting for visual authenticity
- • Adjusted underwater atmosphere, caustics, and particle effects for immersive depth
- • Iterated on environmental details to maximize realism within performance constraints
Technical Stack
VR Platform
- • Unity 2021
- • OpenVR SDK
- • OpenVR Input API
- • XR Interaction Toolkit
Performance Tools
- • Unity Profiler
- • OpenVR frame timing metrics
VR vs AR: Design Considerations
Adapting MarineXR to VR required rethinking interaction paradigms and educational approaches to maximize immersion and presence. While AR excels at bringing content into students' physical spaces, VR provides complete environmental control and transformative immersion that places users directly into marine habitats. The experience was designed for in-place and room-scale interaction, encouraging natural movement and physical exploration without artificial locomotion methods like teleportation. This approach allowed users to physically walk around marine creatures, crouch to examine details up close, and experience the true scale of ocean life through their own body movement, creating unprecedented levels of engagement with marine biology concepts.