Sim Lake

This project reflects an interdisciplinary effort including three different labs on the Dartmouth campus. Kathy Cottingham’s lab (including Quin, and Jess), the DEV studio with John Bell and ILIXR with James Mahoney. This work is supported in part by a grant from the Albee Trust as well as the Neukom Institute.

Freshwater resources sustain life while serving as economic and cultural infrastructure for societies worldwide, providing food, transportation, drinking water, recreational opportunities, and other valuable ecosystem services that promote human well-being . Despite the critical importance of water to civilization, humans often adversely impact water quality via deforestation, fertilizer overuse, and pollution - impacts that can be exacerbated by the indirect effects of climate change. Unfortunately, the combined direct and indirect anthropogenic effects on lakes and reservoirs can be difficult to understand due to the separation of cause and effect in space and time. We seek to raise awareness of these issues by harnessing virtual reality (VR), which has previously been demonstrated to enhance users' empathy and modify their subsequent behavior. 

In this study, we aim to develop a working prototype for an open-source VR simulation of a generalized freshwater lake (“Sim Lake”) to serve as a base environment that can be adapted for research, education, and outreach. Specifically, we plan a two-stage, coupled prototype that combines VR simulations of the area around a lake with stereoscopic, photo-based components,  above and below the water surface.