Shifting Seas: Life and Plastic in the Sea by San José State University

How much plastic is in the ocean? This is the question I sought to visualize as I developed Shifting Seas. Shifting Seas is an augmented reality data visualization that is designed to convey the enormity of both life and plastic in Earth’s oceans through an immersive, interactive experience. Six life-sized bubbles represent the biomass of all bacteria, plankton, fish, mammals, plants, and plastic in the ocean. The size of the bubbles corresponds to the millions of tons of mass of each category. When tapped, the bubble will display, via text, its mass. When the “plastic” bubble is tapped, seven smaller bubbles appear around it, representing the percentage of ocean waste that is plastic bags, plastic bottles, food containers and cutlery, wrappers, synthetic rope, fishing items, and plastic caps and lids.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of ocean-bound plastic garbage comes from single-use items. By presenting the enormity of our impact in a life-sized experience, I hope to convey the importance of eliminating plastic waste in our lives.