The Wonder Reef Immersive Experience brings the magic of the ocean to life through augmented reality (AR) and a stunning 3D digital twin. In collaboration with City of Gold Coast’s Arts and Culture, Wonder Reef, and EyeJack, this interactive experience transforms the world’s first buoyant reef, a breathtaking fusion of art, science, and marine innovation, into a vibrant digital adventure, inviting audiences to explore its structure and marine life from anywhere.
The Wonder Reef
Located off the coast of the Gold Coast, Wonder Reef is the world’s first buoyant reef, a fusion of art, engineering, and marine innovation designed to create a thriving underwater ecosystem and a one-of-a-kind diving experience. Accessible only by boat and scuba license, the reef offers divers the chance to explore nine towering sculptural reef flutes that attract vibrant marine life. To extend this experience beyond the ocean floor, the City of Gold Coast partnered with EyeJack to create the Wonder Reef Immersive Experience, a digital twin that allows anyone, anywhere in the world, to explore the reef’s beauty and ecological significance through interactive 3D and augmented reality technology.
The Process
To bring Wonder Reef to life, 3D artist PandaKero (Keorattana Luangrath) collaborated closely with the EyeJack and Wonder Reef teams, using original architectural drawings and build references to accurately recreate the reef and its marine life, from gentle nurse sharks to schools of vibrant fish, achieving a careful balance between realism and real-time performance.
Digital Twin
Using a high-fidelity digital twin, visitors can explore and interact with Wonder Reef’s intricate design and surrounding marine ecosystem from any mobile or desktop device. The experience also features 10 interactive information points, each revealing stories about Wonder Reef’s creation, marine visitors, and environmental innovation — brought to life through a rich mix of text, video, and photography.
AR
Through augmented reality, audiences can explore Wonder Reef’s structure and its ecosystem from anywhere, gaining a deeper appreciation for ocean health and sustainability. The experience uses AR to overlay the digital twin directly into users’ physical surroundings, creating a lifelike portal beneath the waves.
Design
The Wonder Reef Immersive Experience was designed as a seamless, browser-based encounter powered by 8th Wall, allowing users to explore the digital twin and AR content without needing to download an app. Visitors can begin by scanning a QR code onsite or accessing the experience through the Wonder Reef website, where a short onboarding process guides them into the interface. Once inside, users can freely switch between the digital twin and AR modes, exploring the reef’s structure in detail. Interactive annotations reveal stories about specific marine life and the making of Wonder Reef, creating an experience that is both educational and visually engaging.
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