Extending our Ocean Reality: Bringing Ancestral and Contemporary Ocean Voyaging and Exploration to Life with Extended Reality (XR) Technologies

August 17, 2023

Daniel Kinzer, M.S. Biomimicry from Arizona State University
Lead Community Technology at Purple Mai’a Foundation, Lead Science Communication Fellow with Ocean Exploration Trust, and Crew member with Polynesian Voyaging Society

Dr. Brittany Kamai, Ph.D., Physics from Vanderbilt University
Director of Integrity and Innovation for the next-generation gravitational wave experiment, Cosmic Explorer and Crew Member with Polynesian Voyaging Society

The ocean is vast and mysterious, yet Hawaiians and other ocean peoples have been voyaging across and into the ocean for thousands of years. Contemporary ocean science and exploration utilizes cutting edge technologies to sense, image and map the ocean from the deepest and most remote parts of the ocean and collect amazing amounts of data about these environments and our Planet Ocean. Communicating about these incredibly complex, significant and sacred environments is a challenge, and few, if any, people can access them directly, including both experienced and younger would-be ocean scientists, explorers and cultural practitioners. Join Daniel Kinzer and Dr. Brittany Kamai as they present live from Leg 6 of Hōkūle’a’s Moananuiākea Voyage, and are joined by other collaborators and partners from Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) and Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS), and beyond to share about building extended reality (XR) ocean voyaging and exploration learning environments with Native Hawaiian youth that can inspire and empower the future ocean scientists, protectors and stewards. This exciting project was funded through the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the NOAA Office of Education, and was led by Purple Mai’a Foundation, in collaboration with OET, PVS and Professor of Virtual Design, John Anderson at University of Idaho.

This presentation is part of the Third Thursday By the Bay Presentation Series at Mokupāpapa Discovery Center, which is the visitor center for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. This lecture series is also supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.