Extended Reality Experience for Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary

The New York State Department of State (NYSDOS) proposes to enter a nine-month contract with the Coastal States Stewardship Foundation (CSSF), a not-for-profit agency that manages projects for regional ocean partnerships. CSSF will implement an immersive XR educational project in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), leveraging MARCO’s technical expertise, educational tools, and access to regional partners and experts. The project will develop an immersive extended reality (XR) experience and modular exhibit space highlighting the shipwrecks of the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary (LONMS). This pilot project will help NYSDOS's partners undertake modular exhibits featuring offshore spaces, such as underwater environments in the Mid-Atlantic. The XR exhibit and videos will be designed for public education and outreach, to be used in museums, schools, libraries, visitor centers, and public events across New York State and the Region. The project will feature at least two experiences highlighting iconic shipwrecks in LONMS, such as St. Peter, Nelly Wilder & H.B., and North Star. Educational features and interactive design will use six degrees of freedom (6DoF). The immersive experience will be motion-friendly, visually clear, and accessible to broad audiences. Digital products will be available to schools, libraries, and at events, promoting New York’s maritime heritage and underwater sites.