BioDive vs Blue Whale AR Encounter

In BioDive, students are marine biologists who travel to international dive locations in VR. They will study the impact of abiotic factors on biotic factors across diverse marine ecosystems and then document their learning in their digital science journals in the companion website. As students move through the experience, they go between their own personal digital science journal (https://biodive.killersnails.com/) and expeditions in the field, including the Eastern Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Indo-Pacific Oceans. They make observations, collect data, collaborate with fellow scientists, and synthesize their knowledge to write formal hypotheses about the impact of variables on changes to different ocean ecosystems. Players must have access to the digital science journal to view more than the first scene. BioDive was developed by a team of science teachers and scientists to model the process of scientific inquiry and discovery. Students use their devices to make observations and use their laptops to manipulate data and synthesize observations to demonstrate learning. This game was created by an award-winning team co-founded by a practicing marine biochemist. BioDive was developed with support from the National Science Foundation!

The Blue Whales Encounter AR app is an intuitive and user-friendly app that offers an explorative experience about blue whales. There is a lot to discover in each of the two views. “Model View” brings you face-to-face with the whale, offering a 3D rendition you can position and explore. Find a surface to play on, then tap it to bring the whale into your world. Use the on-screen layer selector to explore the external, skeletal, and internal structures of the largest animal that ever lived. Each layer features blue hotspots that pop-up contextual information about that area of interest. You can alter the size of the whale to make it bigger and smaller, or even rotate it for a better view. Feeling adventurous? Use your fingers to expand the whale to its full size. Just make sure you have enough space! “Submarine View” plunges you deep into the blue whale's marine habitat; this time, you’re in its home. Cruising in a private submersible, your expedition commences with a close encounter as a blue whale glides past your sub’s porthole! The sub has eight key controls on its dashboard. Each triggers a different experience. Four allow you to visualize the massive size of the blue whale by directly comparing it to a diver, a pod of dolphins, a school bus and a T-Rex. Two other controls trigger signature blue whale behaviors; watch as the whale surfaces for air, and witness one of the most spectacular performances in all of nature—the blue whale’s lunge feed.