I was blown away by this amazing 3D timelapse movie, one of many I believe created by Art Gleason at the University of Miami. The movie uses mosaics painstakingly collected by divers from Fragments of Hope, Belize which is a non-profit, community-based coral restoration and conservation organisation (visit their website at fragmentsofhope.org). Doubtlessly an extremely useful tool in assessing the success of restoration efforts, I find such media utterly mesmerising and can’t help but wonder if this could be brought across into the realm of VR technology (if it hasn’t already been), not just for scientific work but also for more entertainment or hobby related purposes.

Imagine being able to select a real patch of reef, copy the aquascape and corals, and see how your creation compares to the real thing as it evolves over time!