Shifting Seas: Life and Plastic in the Sea
Design with Data + Technology | Final Project
The Concept
Shifting Seas is an augmented reality data visualization that is designed to convey the enormity of both life and plastic in Earth’s oceans through an immersive, interactive experience. Six life-sized bubbles represent the biomass of all bacteria, plankton, fish, mammals, plants, and plastic in the ocean. The size of the bubbles corresponds to the millions of tons of mass of each category. When tapped, the bubble will display, via text, its mass. When the “plastic” bubble is tapped, seven smaller bubbles appear around it, representing the percentage of ocean waste that is plastic bags, plastic bottles, food containers and cutlery, wrappers, synthetic rope, fishing items, and plastic caps and lids. Unsurprisingly, the majority of ocean-bound plastic garbage comes from single-use items.
The Experience
View the AR experience here: https://adobeaero.app.link/SuaeV8ORcPb
The Poster
I felt that the experience needed an introduction, and a small map to help acclimate the user with the experience prior to entering. The map also gives the user an idea of the scale of the AR experience, which can be helpful when initially placing the anchor.
I am a big proponent of using printed materials in conjunction with the augmented experience, so that a user who can’t access the experience for any reason can still view a well-designed explanation.
Process Documentation
This video documents the process of concepting and making the AR experience. To read more about my process and final outcome, you can view my process book here.