Dive In Honduras – Q&A with Series Co-Creator Justin Grubb
***We are very excited to be collaborating with Running Wild Media and its co-founders Justin Grubb and Alex Goetz on their new VR series, “Dive In”. The first season of the show will focus on Honduras, and one of the aspects of the series that we’re most excited about is the opportunity to bring this content into Honduran classrooms. Justin and Alex are committed to this aspect of the project, and have launched a crowdsource funding campaign to raise the funds needed to make it a reality.
Check out the campaign here: gofundme.com/dive-in-honduras
The following is our conversation with Justin Grubb about this unique project:
Give me a quick introduction to Dive In Honduras – what are your goals with this project?
Dive In is a short series of episodes that explores the underwater world off the coast of Honduras. The reason we chose this location was because of it’s fantastic reefs, heavy influx of tourism and large community associated with the reefs around them. We also have great relationships with several organizations there like the Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center, MarAlliance and the Roatan Marine Park. We have several goals for this project, with the most prominent one being to bring the ocean to classrooms adjacent to critical marine habitats and show children the beauty of the animals living on the reefs and how to protect them. We are also documenting the status of these ecosystems with 360 video which can be valuable to understanding change in these environments.
What aspect of this project are you most excited about?
This is an extremely exciting project to be a part of, but the part I am most excited about is bringing the videos around to different classrooms and seeing the kids reactions to viewing environments right at their door step. Due to several limitations, a lot of the kids living along incredible marine environments, don’t actually get to see them. I am hoping this series changes that and gives kids the feeling of what it is like to swim with a sea turtle or have a peaceful encounter with a shark. By building those relationships, we can ensure that these kids will grow up to be environmental champions, after all, they are the future.
How did you become interested in ocean conservation?
I grew up visiting the ocean during summer vacations and was always the kid with a hand net and a plastic tote to collect marine animals and observe them up close. By developing this relationship with the ocean, I have always felt the need to do everything in my power to protect it. I have pretty much dedicated my life to ocean conservation and have a degree in biology with a marine and aquatic specialization.
Why VR? What inspired you to use this particular medium to reach people?
The full immersion capabilities of the VR platform is extremely exciting because it creates more memorable experiences than simply watching a standard video. When someone watches a 360 video, they become an active participant in what is going on and can customize their own experience. Further, when an individual puts on a headset and headphones to watch the video, they feel as though they are submerged in the content. I believe this platform will work well in an educational setting because it blends technology with environmental science and isolates the student’s experience. The potential for VR content is endless and thanks to Kodak’s PixPro 360 VR 4K Cameras, we were able to capture the underwater world with perfect clarity.
What will the money raised from this crowdsource campaign be used for?
The money raised for this specific campaign will go for the purchase of approximately 8 VR headsets provided at a discount by Oqtagon. This company generously supports this project and other projects relating to ocean conservation and education. The money will also be used to create lesson plans for the outreach campaign and allow travel to and from specific schools on the Honduran Islands.
Will there be additional episodes in the future focusing on different marine ecosystems?
We are looking at scaling up the project to other locations in the Caribbean and reaching new communities in close proximity to critical ocean habitats. I believe that the underwater environment works best for recording 360 degree videos because everywhere you look, there is something happening.
Aside from contributing to the crowdsource campaign – is there anything else that folks can do to help out with this project?
Aside from donating, the best way people can support the project is by checking out our final episodes when they are released and sharing them on their social feeds. The more we can get the word out there, the more impact we can have. I encourage everyone out there reading this, to dive in with us.
