Tropical Fish Experience

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  Process screenshot

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  Process screenshot

Inspiration

I was inspired by my love of nature and tropical fish to build an interactive aquarium I could share as a virtual experience allowing others to swim underwater with popular tropical fish species.

What it does

The filter allows users to immerse themselves inside of a 360 degree underwater panorama and enjoy 14 animated species swimming around them in an endless loop.

How I built it

I used Blender to animate individual fish and a turtle. Once I exported all of the animals I created a virtual 360 degree environment and combined the models using Spark AR. Finally, once the models were looping and animating correctly I added interactive controls and audio.

Challenges I ran into

The most challenging obstacle for me was creating individual animations in Blender and linking each looped clip to play seamlessly, along with patching the network of interactive controls.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am most proud to share my love of nature and underwater sea life with others. To bring awareness and appreciation to a fragile eco system that is threatened by pollution, and hopefully spark the public's interest in preserving and nurturing reef environments around the world.

What I learned

I learned about the many limitations of the FBX format and Spark's animation controller. I also learned about combining 3d animated models in Spark AR and 360 planar trackers.

What's next for Tropical Fish Experience

This framework can be used to create many other 360 degree experiences that allow users to travel virtually in AR or VR. Other applications can include eco-systems, planetary exploration, chemistry, biology or dna visualizations, or even historical tours and entertainment!

Built With

• blender
• particle
• photoshop