Student VR Team Launches Interactive Ocean Pollution Game
AdvocaSea combines entertainment and education to bring awareness to marine sustainability
By Jenny Walsh ‘20
The Imaginarium has yet again managed to inspire an up-and-coming group of social entrepreneurs—this time, through AdvocaSea, a sustainability project created by student-team PoD in Brian Smith’s Virtual Reality Design Challenge (ARTS 185) course.
A virtual reality game tackling the issue of water and ocean pollution, AdvocaSea allows players to act as divers that have to pick up trash in order to win. Recognizing through their research the multiple dimensions of marine sustainability besides harpooning trash, PoD also incorporated into the game elements of funding, government lobbying, investing, and more.
Your decisions impact the environment.
Clockwise (from top left): Isabel Wu '21, Emily Dang '20, Vicki Lim '20, Maggie Schulte '21
Comprised of four SCU students—Emily Dang ‘20 (Computer Science and Engineering), Vicki Lim ‘20 (Computer Science), Maggie Schulte ‘21 (Computer Science), and Isabel Wu ‘21 (Studio Art and Marketing)—Team PoD’s AdvocaSea mission is to “spread awareness about different types of ocean pollution, educate about the human side of environmental conservation, and to teach different meanings of sustainability,” all while delivering an engaging virtual experience.
AdvocaSea is special to me because it is a project that allows me creative freedom as an artist while also challenging me to come up with possible solutions to a real-life issue.
Schulte agrees.
I love that I can combine my love for video games with my concern about climate change. Ocean pollution is an important problem that needs to be addressed because it affects all of us and we are the cause.
Initially designed as a course project, Team PoD hopes to expand on their work by developing the game further and making it available to the public.
About the Imaginarium
The Imaginarium is the virtual reality laboratory located in the Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building. Developed in collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences, private donors, Silicon Valley partners, and the Department of Art and Art History, the Imaginarium allows faculty, staff, and students to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. For more information, email scuimaginarium@scu.edu.