Where marine science meets
cinematic storytelling.
We transform ocean science into immersive experiences that inspire communities around the world to care for our shared ocean.
For more than a decade, we've been exploring how technology helps people learn about, and feel connected to, ocean environments.
We can't take everyone to the ocean. But with cutting-edge technologies paired with interactive storytelling, we can bring the ocean to everyone.
The Hydrous creates immersive, science-based experiences that invite people anywhere in the world to explore coral reefs, kelp forests, the open ocean, and the life within them.
Today, we're building the next generation of digital experiences designed to inspire curiosity and stewardship of marine ecosystems worldwide.
We're moving from virtual dives to immersive worlds.
The Hydrous is developing a new generation of multimodal ocean experiences that bring together cinematic underwater content, XR, LED domes, interactive projections, and digital learning. These experiences are designed to work across museums, aquariums, science centers, classrooms, cultural institutions, and digital platforms.
Our mission
Make the ocean
accessible to everyone.
The Hydrous is a learning ecosystem that brings ocean science to audiences wherever they are through immersive storytelling, educational curricula, and emerging technologies.
Our mission is to increase ocean literacy, empathy, and stewardship. That means helping people understand how the ocean works, how they are connected to it, and why we must protect it, together.
Every experience starts with wonder and is backed by science.
Our approach brings together three things:
Immersive storytelling
We use cinematic underwater footage, extended reality (XR), LED environments, interactive projections, and other emerging technologies to put audiences inside marine ecosystems they may never otherwise experience.
Scientific credibility
Our experiences are developed with marine scientists, educators, and researchers and grounded in established ocean literacy principles and learning objectives. We've spent more than a decade researching not only how to create immersive ocean experiences, but how they influence knowledge, connection, and stewardship.
Meaningful engagement
Our experiences are designed as portals to your journey of exploration and discovery. We build frameworks around immersive experiences to enhance learning, reflection, discussion, and opportunities to go deeper. This approach brings audiences from curiosity → understanding → connection → action.
And we measure what happens along the way. We embed measures of ocean literacy, empathy, knowledge, and engagement into our experiences, creating a continuous feedback loop that informs what we build next. It’s this integration of science, storytelling, and measurement that sets The Hydrous apart
A history of making the ocean accessible
Founded in 2014, The Hydrous started with the same goal as it has today: making the ocean accessible.
We started by using underwater photography and photogrammetry to create detailed 3D models of living corals.
Those models could be shared online, printed, displayed in museums, and used as hands-on learning tools. We later collaborated with the Smithsonian to digitize coral specimens, helping make collections accessible to scientists, artists, educators, and audiences around the world.
Then technology opened new possibilities.
Since 2016, we’ve been exploring virtual reality as a way to create “open access oceans,” so that anyone, anywhere could step into the underwater world. In 2018, we launched Immerse 360°, and in 2021, we experimented with augmented reality, creating AR Reef Adobe and the Smithsonian.
From Immerse 360° to Expedition Palau and Explore VR, we tested what happened when people could feel like they’re experiencing and interacting with marine ecosystems rather than simply reading about them or watching a 2-dimensional video.
We also tested how to make those experiences social.
At National Geographic's VR theater, as many as 450 people could enter the same virtual dive simultaneously while Erika live-narrated the experience from the stage. The Hydrous has since led synchronized virtual dives for audiences around the world and conducted studies that show how shared virtual worlds create enhanced learning experiences and outcomes.
2.75M
Virtual Dives Led
12
Peer-reviewed Publications
400+
Citations
AS SEEN IN
Media & Research
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TIME Trailblazers
PRESS
Designing and Making the Future
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Partnership with Silverback and Submersa
PRESS RELEASE
The Hydrous, Silverback Films, and Submersa Studios Partner to Transform how Audiences Experience the Ocean
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CNN Call to Earth
PRESS
A marine biologist is using virtual reality to bring people closer to the ocean
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Ocean XR
RESEARCH
A Deep Dive Into Extended Reality for Marine Education and Ocean Literacy
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Immerse
360º FILM
Featured on National Geographic’s YouTube channel
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Upworthy
PRESS
Marine biologist offers virtual deep dives—bringing us to the ocean with advanced technology
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Agency in Immersive Learning
RESEARCH
Complexity of Agency in VR Learning Environments: Exploring Associations with Interactivity, Learning Outcomes, and Affect
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AR Reef
MEDIA
An augmented reality experience created in partnership with Adobe & The Smithsonian
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Explore VR
MEDIA
An interactive VR experience to train like a marine biologist
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Collaboration in Immersive VR
RESEARCH
Conducted at the Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab
The Hydrous Team
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Eric Riesberg
Board of Directors
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Judy Harrison
Board of Directors
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Vicki Dobbs Beck
Board of Directors
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Jeff Wilson
Board of Directors
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Dr. Erika Woolsey
Chief Scientist & CEO
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Dr. Danny Pimentel
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Dr. Géraldine Fauville
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Amy Wentzel
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Daniel Hettwer
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Monica Arés
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Prof. Jeremy Bailenson
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Jeff Hester
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Xander Peterson
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Jen Wallace
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Brad Macdonald
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Sylvester Spencer-Lee
Co-Founder
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Nora Hall
Co-Founder
My career has always lived at the intersection of science, storytelling, and technology—and that intersection is really at the heart of The Hydrous.
– Dr. Erika Woolsey
The Hydrous’ work has reached 2.75 million “virtual divers” through immersive ocean experiences and contributed 12 peer-reviewed publications to the fields of marine education, extended reality (XR) technologies, and social science, with collaboration and recognition from organizations including the Smithsonian, Meta, Lenovo, Autodesk, Adobe, and the United Nations.
The Hydrous in action
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Sharing our 360/3D film Immerse, with an audience in Washington, D.C.
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Filming in Monterey Bay, CA
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Presenting to an audience of more than 3,500 in Des Moines, Iowa
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Conducting a study at Stanford, funded with a grant from NSF (National Science Foundation)
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Testing the effects of underwater virtual reality (UVR) at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab
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Leading a synchronized virtual dive for 450 people in VR headsets at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium
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Audience members participating in a virtual dive in La Paz, Mexico
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Classroom visit to the Nueva School in San Mateo, CA. Students doing turtle dive signals to show what animals they are seeing in their VR experience.
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Erika during her National Geographic Live show in Des Moines, Iowa on Earth Day
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National Geographic Explorers trying VR during Explorers Festival
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Leading virtual ocean tours with the Hidden Genius Project in Oakland, CA
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Visiting a classroom in San Francisco, CA
Where we are headed next
As we move into this next phase, we’re focused on scaling our impact through multimodal, evidence-based experiences that invite audiences into beautiful marine environments around the world.
The ocean touches every person and every community on the planet. The opportunity now is to use the power of immersive storytelling so people can feel and understand that connection for themselves.
Support the next generation of ocean storytelling
We bring the science. Our partners bring their expertise. Together, we create something none of us could create alone.
Dive in with us
The next chapter of The Hydrous is something we build together and we are excited to show you how it unfolds. Stay tuned to follow along and get news on when and where these immersive experiences will become available.
Email us at info@thehydrous.com
Upcoming talks and events