VR technology represents a new frontier in science communication, and NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is using it to invite everyone on a research mission alongside their scientists.
This virtual reality research experience is a project for Masters student Devon Ledbetter, who works as a science communication intern at AOML. Devon’s project aims to revolutionize the way we communicate about inaccessible research. Through her internship, she developed and implemented a three-part immersive virtual reality research experience.
Devon Ledbetter leads University of Miami undergraduate students through the hurricane flight VR experience.
AOML has now released two virtual reality experiences with a third on the way. Viewers will have the opportunity to select a mission from each division, sharing a variety of research topics in an immersive format. The newest VR experience allows users to join a hurricane flight mission alongside researchers and aviators as they fly into a developing storm. This experience showcases the work done by scientists at AOML’s Hurricane Research Division, and provides insight into how they gather data to improve hurricane forecasting.
The first VR research experience AOML released is a dive with the Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division. This experience follows scientists from the Coral Program as they study Cheeca Rocks, filmed by communications intern Alexandra Ceurvorst. Viewers now have the opportunity to join researchers as they deploy sensors and take scans of the Cheeca Rocks coral reef.
The third and final VR experience follows scientists from the Physical Oceanography Division as they embark on a research cruise. Viewers can join researchers as they deploy CTDs and conduct research on the Western Boundary Time Series cruise.
AOML’s adoption of virtual reality is transforming the way science is communicated, making once-inaccessible research missions accessible to all. By immersing viewers in the eye of a hurricane or beneath the ocean’s surface, these VR experiences offer a powerful new perspective on the vital work of AOML scientists.