Immersive Oceans: Reimagining the Digital Aquarium Experience

Concept & Problem Statement

By Kevin Leonardrich

MAGES Institute of Excellence (Advanced Diploma Interactive Media and Production Student)

The OceanX Digital Aquarium started as a creative proposal for my Advanced Diploma in Interactive Media Production.

The concept was to design an accessible, immersive ocean simulation experience in a dome that allows users to engage with marine education and practical experience. 

The Digital Aquarium utilizes the Unreal Engine and UltraLeap Motion gesture control technology, paired with a double-screen companion interface that pushes boundaries further than a traditional aquarium—allowing participants to engage directly with marine systems.

In a geodesic dome projection theater, guests are surrounded by a panoramic view of a coral reef. Instead of looking through glass, they are positioned in the reef-witnessing the marine life in its rhythm, responding with hand gestures, and obtaining information through a digital console.

The Problem: Awareness Without a Connection

Marine conservation communications face a unique paradox: people are aware that the oceans are in decline, yet often lack a meaningful connection to the oceans. A photograph or a documentary may make an impression, but they cannot truly replicate the connections made when surrounded by a reef with marine life. 

Without the visceral connection, conservation-based messaging will always struggle to create lasting impressions in the audience.

The Solution: By Interactive Dome-Based Simulations

The Digital Aquarium concept delivers visitors under the virtual currents of the ocean floor, surrounded by corals, fish, and light from above. All designed and developed to provide more sensory wonder than a diving experience—without fins and tanks.

With UltraLeap gesture tracking technology, guests will be able to:

• Feed a sea turtle and remove litter caught around its flipper.
• Float next to a manta ray, guiding it through a field of glowing plankton.
• Watch a moray eel hunt, and see how it uses its second jaw.

A companion touchpad console supports deeper levels of interaction, allowing you to choose bait, explore a species’ logbook, and discover ecological information narrated by a virtual marine biologist. Overall, this experience seamlessly combines interactivity and storytelling to create an educational and emotionally engaging experience.

Why Dome-Based Experiences Matter for Conservation

OceanX is not only about experiences, but about creating empathy for marine life. Engaging people in a responsive and living reef environment, the intention is to move people from passive awareness into active care.

When a guest experiences themselves as a participant in an experience, conservation primarily becomes a personal journey.

Originally written as a production proposal, the concept is framed within Unreal Engine, optimized for geodome projection, and utilizes a gesture-based interactive experience as its core design. 

More importantly, it demonstrates how the skills one can develop in environment design, interaction systems, and immersive storytelling can connect impact and entertainment—by using digital media as a medium for ecological connection.