The White Symptom

Abstract

As the homeland of thousands of ocean creatures, Coral plays an important role in the marine ecosystem. But with the current ocean climate change, corals are under enormous pressure. Currently, 70% of coral reefs are under serious threats of bleaching, and 20% are already dead with no way to recover. Although the situation is not optimistic, we can still save 70% of the endangered corals.Therefore immediate attention from the public is urgent, coral recovery time varies depending on the ocean environment, if the environment can improve, the recovery time will shorten accordingly. There are methods we can take to help with coral reef recovery. The White Symptom immersive exhibition will provide visitors with different interactive experiences based on different causes and effects of coral bleaching. Aiming to translate scientific analysis into playful and immersive interactions.

The interactions vary depending on the educational focus in that area. Through research, I found three major causes for coral bleaching including ocean acidification, ocean temperature, and human pressure to design an immersive experience. Use different visualization and interaction methods to demonstrate different causes and effects of coral bleaching. The current installation location I chose is Sanya, Hainan, China, where the waters near this island are experiencing a lot of coral bleaching. Sanya’s local government held multiple coral recovery events, they dived under the water, fostered and planted the coral seed, they also give out educational materials at local beaches. It would be very useful to have my exhibition in Sanya, where coral reefs are the most popular sight in the travel industry.