This article investigates underwater virtual reality (UVR) as an innovative tool for marine environmental education and ocean literacy development. Given the crucial role the ocean plays in human and planetary health, ocean literacy (OL)—understanding the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean—has been gaining momentum as a significant component and determinant of sustainable human-ocean interactions.
The researchers conducted an exploratory study with 19 marine scientists and education experts who experienced UVR activities in a swimming pool, followed by semi-structured interviews and surveys.
The UVR experience involved participants watching two 5-minute underwater diving videos while floating in a pool wearing a waterproof VR headset. In UVR activity 1, the user is taken on a drift dive in the ocean and visits shipwrecks and caves while passing near different charismatic megafauna such as manta rays, sharks, and humpback whales while listening to relaxing instrumental music. In UVR activity 2, alongside instrumental music, an instructional voice (the diving partner) guides the user through a diving mission to rescue a young humpback whale stuck to a rope on the mat of a shipwreck.
The results showed that UVR created powerful experiences through what researchers call "double immersion" - the combination of visual immersion through VR and physical immersion in water. Participants described how 'the sense of the water makes things more immersive' emphasizing the water's sensory input. They described UVR as 'a lot more immersive than regular VR' and 'the impression is the same as if you would be doing it for real'.
Participants' overwhelmingly positive affective reactions to their UVR experience indicate strong potential for marine environmental education. Positive affect, such as enjoyment, mobilizes individuals and broadens their array of behaviors. UVR's ability to induce both high- and low-activation positive affective states could be applied towards pro-environmental interventions. Many participants experienced complex emotions including awe, wonder, empathy, and feelings of belonging to the marine environment.
The study evaluated UVR's potential across six dimensions of ocean literacy. Participants ranked OL's awareness dimension as the one that might benefit the most from UVR, while the knowledge dimension was rated the lowest. The top-rated dimensions were awareness, attitude, and ocean connectedness - suggesting UVR's particular strength in fostering emotional and attitudinal connections rather than factual knowledge transmission.
Participants expressed that increasing awareness about marine environmental issues, beyond just knowing facts, requires experience and immersion in the issue. They strongly emphasized UVR's potential for enhancing awareness due to the saliency of its emotional effects: 'You can really raise awareness in a sense that you can never do without being part of an underwater experience’.
The researchers identified key potentials of UVR for marine education, including making the ocean more accessible to landlocked populations and triggering meaningful emotional responses. They noted the ocean's invisibility and inaccessibility and how UVR may help bridge the gap in first-hand human experiences: 'We only relate to what's on the surface, so very few of us have been beneath the surface […] And when you're part of it, you also want to be more protective, because you are in this world. And you experience something that is unique'.
However, the study also identified important limitations. While UVR enables (virtual) access to the otherwise remote marine environment, there are potential financial and physical accessibility issues, including the equipment's cost and the need for staff and facilities to use it. There remain limitations inherent to the technology itself: 'There are so many issues that make this quite impossible to do on a larger scale - in regular school there's no time for that, no resources'.
The researchers emphasize the importance of content quality and pedagogical soundness. Participants emphasized the focus must remain on the educational learning objective and not the technology itself. As participants experienced UVR activities that were designed for entertainment purposes, they noted how the extent of its benefits critically depend on the content's pedagogical soundness and scaffolding: 'The content not only has to be interesting, but adapted to what you really want to teach’.
The researchers conclude that UVR shows great potential as a pro-environmental intervention tool.
The Bottom Line
This study by Fauville et al. (2024) explored the potential of underwater virtual reality (UVR) for marine environmental education and ocean literacy. UVR enables participants to take a virtual dive while being simultaneously immersed in water, creating a unique "double immersion" experience. Through interviews and surveys with 19 marine scientists and education experts who experienced UVR activities in a swimming pool, researchers found that UVR has significant technological and psychological potentials. Participants reported high levels of presence (feeling like they were actually underwater), minimal motion sickness, and powerful emotional responses including awe, empathy, and flow states. The study demonstrates that UVR can create realistic ocean experiences that improve ocean literacy by reducing psychological distance to marine environmental issues. The researchers propose a new seven-dimensional ocean literacy framework and find UVR particularly promising for enhancing emotional connections, attitudes, awareness, and ocean connectedness - the foundational elements needed to inspire pro-environmental behavior toward marine conservation.