Technology has the ability to move the needle when it comes to messaging, from the impact of the medium to the nature of the content. As industries of all sectors use any tool available to capture attention, NGOs typically have the added burden of fewer resources and limited manpower to convey the importance of their mission. As members of 1% for the Planet, this is an issue we have become increasingly more aware of as our relationships within the network grow.

When our environmental partner SOMAR told us their vision of creating an underwater experience that amplifies the sounds of marine life, we knew exactly how we could help. Leaning on the expertise of our XR team, we created an XR experience using the acoustic recordings that they had already captured in Portugal's Algarve. Our goal was to create something that could be used on a standalone headset just as easily as a Google cardboard-compatible phone setup, so that it would be accessible to a larger audience.

With this project, SOMAR now has a tangible tool to highlight the direct impacts of underwater noise pollution. Users of the XR application are able to get a sense of how marine life is affected once human-made noise has entered their space and interferes with their communication and feeding patterns.

We are delighted to report that SOMAR has already successfully presented this project to the public several times to resoundingly positive feedback. From students to parents to the general public in Lagos, everyone has walked away with a better understanding of underwater noise pollution.

While their work is far from over, this open source project will help bring them one step closer to protecting the Algarve.