OceanSpeak: Enhancing Ocean Literacy through Immersive Conversations with Artificially Intelligent Marine Wildlife
Name of applicant
Gustav Bøg Petersen
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution
Stanford University
Amount
DKK 1,020,000
Year
2024
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
This project explores if interacting with digital marine wildlife threatened by climate change can improve people's ocean literacy, i.e. their awareness of the mutual influence between humans and the ocean. By leveraging cutting-edge immersive virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI), participants will be able to interact directly with a digital AI seal threatened by ocean acidification.
Why?
Human activities are harming the health of the ocean and its inhabitants, e.g., by acidifying the sea water. Due to their invisible nature, many marine issues are unknown to the public, which challenges climate action. This project examines if encountering threatened AI wildlife in virtual reality can be a way of increasing awareness of marine issues, thus encouraging more sustainable behavior.
How?
Following best practices for iterative design, the digital material will be developed in close collaboration with experts in virtual reality, AI, and communication. Through experimental studies and focus group interviews, the AI application's potential to enhance people's ocean literacy will be examined. Finally, to enhance the impact of the project, the material will be made publicly available.