Currents of Life

Inspiration

• NASA ocean data shows large-scale structure, but lacks fine detail.
• We wanted to turn that into something you can move through and experience, not just look at.

What it does

• Visualizes ocean life and motion using:
  • chlorophyll (structure)
  • currents (direction)
• Lets you drive a boat through the system, with particles reinforcing motion.

How we built it

• Used NASA data as geographic + directional reference.
• Generated a synthetic field to match real ocean structure.
• Created flow using:
  • a dominant current (Kuroshio-like)
  • eddies + curl noise
• Applied LIC (line integral convolution) to produce filament structures.
• Rendered as a single shader-driven texture with animated UV distortion.
• Added particles for local motion feedback.

Challenges we ran into

• Real NASA data was too low-resolution and incomplete for visual quality.
• Direct use looked flat and blocky.
• Needed to fill in gaps without losing realism.
• Balancing accuracy vs visual clarity.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Turned coarse data into a visually rich, flowing system.
• Achieved thin, coherent filament structures instead of blobs.
• Built something explorable, not just viewable.
• Strong performance (single quad + shader).

What we learned

• Real data provides structure, but not visual detail.
• The most important visuals came from simulation layered on top of data.
• Techniques like LIC are critical for revealing flow structure.
• Interactivity (driving through it) makes the data intuitive.

Built With

• c#
• convolution
• hlsl
• hlsl-shaders
• integral
• kuroshio-extension-data
• line
• nasa-neo-(modis)
• numpy
• particlesystem
• pillow
• python
• rigidbody2d
• scipy
• shader-graph
• unity-(urp)
• unity-editor-scripting
• unity-input-system