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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![Promotional image of three trailblazers for Meet Time's 2026 event, featuring two men and one woman in black-and-white with a gradient purple background, smiling and looking confident.]()
TIME Trailblazers
PRESS
Designing and Making the Future
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![Scuba diver exploring an underwater kelp forest with sunlight filtering through the water and various fish swimming around.]()
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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![Two scuba divers swimming underwater among a school of fish, with one diver holding a camera or light and the other swimming nearby.]()
CNN Call to Earth
PRESS
A marine biologist is using virtual reality to bring people closer to the ocean
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![Person wearing a virtual reality headset looking at an underwater scene in an aquatic exhibit or aquarium with colorful fish and coral.]()
Ocean XR
RESEARCH
A Deep Dive Into Extended Reality for Marine Education and Ocean Literacy
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![An underwater scene showing a scuba diver exploring a rocky coral reef.]()
Immerse
360º FILM
Featured on National Geographic’s YouTube channel
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![Two women in outdoor gear crouch down by a tide pool at the beach, closely examining the water and rocks.]()
Upworthy
PRESS
Marine biologist offers virtual deep dives—bringing us to the ocean with advanced technology
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![A group of five young women standing on rocky terrain, with some talking and others looking in different directions.]()
Agency in Immersive Learning
RESEARCH
Complexity of Agency in VR Learning Environments: Exploring Associations with Interactivity, Learning Outcomes, and Affect
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![A detailed model of an undersea scene with a rock mountain, colorful coral, and sea plants. A realistic turtle model is swimming in front of a framed underwater backdrop.]()
AR Reef
MEDIA
An augmented reality experience created in partnership with Adobe & The Smithsonian
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![An underwater scene with colorful coral and a sunken ship in the background. A white frame with a headset inside hangs amid the coral.]()
Explore VR
MEDIA
An interactive VR experience to train like a marine biologist
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![A surreal digital artwork with floating birds, people, and objects in a cloudy sky at sunset.]()
Collaboration in Immersive VR
RESEARCH
Conducted at the Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab
The Hydrous Team
Leadership
Our CEO and Board of Directors create our leadership team with collective expertise, strategic vision, and commitment that help the Hydrous expand its reach, strengthen its partnerships, and advance ocean education and conservation.
Science & Technology Advisory Council
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![Smiling man with a shaved head and beard standing outdoors in front of a modern glass building.]()
Dr. Danny Pimentel
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![Woman with long brown hair wearing a black and red plaid shirt, holding a virtual reality headset on her head, smiling, against a blue background.]()
Dr. Géraldine Fauville
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A young woman with long red hair smiling outdoors in front of a wooden fence and trees.]()
Amy Wentzel
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A young man in a blue suit smiling at the camera on a beach with rocks and ocean in the background.]()
Daniel Hettwer
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![Woman with long brown hair and green eyes smiling, wearing a cream-colored blazer and top, standing in front of a gray, ridged background.]()
Monica Arés
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A middle-aged man with long, wavy hair and light skin smiling while leaning against a stone pillar, wearing a maroon shirt, outdoors with blurred trees and structures in the background.]()
Prof. Jeremy Bailenson
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A man with blond hair and beard smiling outdoors, wearing a gray shirt and a blue bandana around his neck, with greenery visible in the background.]()
Jeff Hester
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A man with curly shoulder-length hair and a beard, wearing a black suit, posing against a dark background.]()
Xander Peterson
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![A woman with long blonde hair, wearing tortoiseshell glasses and a maroon top, smiling against a dark background.]()
Jen Wallace
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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![Close-up of a man with gray hair, wearing glasses, and a black shirt, against a gray background.]()
Brad MacDonald
Science and Technology Advisory Council
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Melissa Pappas
Science and Technology Advisory Council
View Bio
Visionaries
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![A woman with short brown hair standing outdoors near water, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, smiling and looking to the side on a sunny day.]()
Dr. Kristina Woolsey
Board Emeritus
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![A man with black hair wearing a blue jacket and a black shirt, speaking into a headset microphone, with a projection of Earth in the background.]()
Sylvester Spencer-Lee
Co-Founder
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![A woman with curly brown hair smiling outdoors, blurred cityscape background.]()
Nora Hall
Co-Founder
The intersection of science, storytelling, and technology is 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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![Three women wearing virtual reality headsets seated in a row at an event, with a Hydrous Open Access Oceans banner in the background.]()
Sharing our 360/3D film Immerse, with an audience in Washington, D.C.
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![A diver underwater holding onto a piece of kelp with a drone floating nearby, wearing diving gear including a wetsuit, mask, and breathing apparatus.]()
Filming in Monterey Bay, CA
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![Large audience seated in a theater or auditorium watching a person presenting on stage.]()
Presenting to an audience of more than 3,500 in Des Moines, Iowa
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![Person with dark hair, wearing a face mask, white hoodie, and red Beats headphones, sitting at a wooden table, watching a laptop with a video of three silhouetted people against a cloudy sky on it. Additional headset is placed on the table.]()
Conducting a study at Stanford, funded with a grant from NSF (National Science Foundation)
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![A person is underwater in a swimming pool practicing scuba diving with a yellow mask and wetsuit. An instructor assists them, holding their arm.]()
Testing the effects of underwater virtual reality (UVR) at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab
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![A woman presents on stage in front of an audience at a conference or seminar, with a large screen displaying a coastal landscape background.]()
Leading a synchronized virtual dive for 450 people in VR headsets at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium
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![People seated in chairs wearing virtual reality headsets during a class or workshop, with a woman at the front operating a laptop and camera.]()
Audience members participating in a virtual dive in La Paz, Mexico
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![Three young girls in a science classroom wearing virtual reality headsets, arms crossed, standing in front of wooden cabinets filled with medical supplies, with a world map and a sink visible on the wall behind them.]()
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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![A woman with curly red hair is speaking in front of a large screen showing an underwater scene with colorful coral and sea anemones.]()
Erika during her National Geographic Live show in Des Moines, Iowa on Earth Day
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![A man wearing a beige Carhartt shirt and a virtual reality headset in an office setting, with a banner that reads 'National Geographic Society' in the background.]()
National Geographic Explorers trying VR during Explorers Festival
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![Group of young people sitting in a room, wearing virtual reality headsets, with some standing nearby. The room has large windows and rows of empty chairs.]()
Leading virtual ocean tours with the Hidden Genius Project in Oakland, CA
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![Women exchanging shoes at a gathering in a room with tables, food, and drinks, with multiple people in the background.]()
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