OceanX Education
OceanX Education Impact Challenge
Inspired by ocean science. Powered by creativity. Build immersive experiences that help people see, feel, and understand the ocean in entirely new ways.
Inspired by ocean science. Powered by creativity. Build immersive experiences that help people see, feel, and understand the ocean in entirely new ways.
In the digital age, immersive media has the power to transform education - turning science into experience, data into emotion, and audiences into participants.
The OceanX Education Impact Challenge is a global call for emerging immersive creators, storytellers, communicators and creative technologists to reimagine how people experience the ocean.
Participants will develop bold concepts that transform ocean science, exploration, and discovery into immersive educational experiences. Experiences that help people see, feel, and understand the ocean in entirely new ways.
Selected concepts may evolve into prototype experiences for future OceanX Education convenings and public programs, including:
Immersive worlds and virtual environments
Projection-mapped installations
Interactive exhibits
Games and simulations
Participatory learning experiences
If it changes how people experience and emotionally connect with the ocean, we want to see it.
The goal is to build a pipeline for the future of ocean learning - where breakthrough concepts can evolve into deployable experiences with global educational impact.
Work on challenges inspired by real-world ocean science and exploration.
Receive mentorship from OceanX educators, scientists, storytellers, and creative technologists.
Access funding and development support to transform concepts into showcase-ready experiences.
Present your ideas through the OceanX Summit and other public-facing opportunities.
Connect with changemakers, collaborators, and future opportunities through the OceanX network.
Top teams may gain access to future residencies, immersive labs, hackathons, and development programs.
We're looking for teams working at the intersection of creativity, technology, science, and learning.
The strongest ideas often emerge when diverse disciplines come together.
We encourage applications from multidisciplinary teams spanning different backgrounds, geographies, perspectives, and lived experiences.
Creative coders, immersive developers, interaction designers, game developers, spatial computing creators, projection mapping artists, and real-time experience builders exploring new forms of participation and storytelling.
Visual artists, generative artists, installation makers, animators, digital designers, and interdisciplinary creators working across immersive, participatory, and hybrid formats.
Filmmakers, writers, worldbuilders, documentary creators, interactive storytellers, and media makers exploring emotional, narrative-led approaches to audience engagement.
Marine scientists, biodiversity researchers, oceanographers, conservation researchers, behavioural scientists, and explorers interested in bringing ocean science beyond academia and into public experience.
Designers Science communicators, museum practitioners, learning designers, educators, and public engagement specialists interested in reimagining how people learn about the ocean.
Inspired by breakthrough ocean discoveries, each challenge track invites you to transform science into experience.
In the deep ocean, light is communication. Fish coordinate movement, signal, and survive using bioluminescent flashes, even forming synchronized schools in total darkness. Challenge: Design an experience where audiences interact through light, learning how communication, coordination, and survival emerge in darkness. Creative Potential: Projection mapping • Responsive environments • Multiplayer interaction • Generative light systems
Beneath the surface, invisible microbial ecosystems drive ocean life, carbon cycling, and energy transfer, forming vast hidden networks throughout the water column. Challenge: Create an immersive experience that reveals the unseen systems powering life on Earth. Creative Potential: Data visualization • Generative art • Interactive ecosystems • AI-driven simulations
In the ocean's most extreme environments, life thrives where survival seems impossible, from hypersaline brine pools to oxygen-depleted depths. Challenge: Place audiences inside these alien worlds and explore what it means to adapt, endure, and survive. Creative Potential: Atmospheric immersion • Spatial sound • Environmental world-building • Narrative exploration
The deep ocean remains one of Earth's last unexplored frontiers, where new species are still being discovered through advances in exploration technology. Challenge: Design an experience that transforms users into explorers, uncovering new life and expanding human knowledge. Creative Potential: Games and simulations • Interactive storytelling • Discovery mechanics • AI-assisted exploration
Submit your initial concept, creative vision, and chosen challenge track as a team. Applications will be evaluated on the strength of the idea, the learning journey, and the potential impact of the experience.
Selected teams will receive access to OceanX science resources, footage, and exploration insights to further develop their concepts. Finalists will refine their prototype vision, development approach, and experience design in preparation for expert review.
Winning teams will work alongside OceanX Education and its network of scientists, educators, storytellers, and creative technologists to bring showcase-ready immersive experiences to life.
Selected winning teams may be invited aboard the OceanXplorer to further develop, test, and showcase their experiences in situ.
Submit your vision for the future of ocean learning:
Video Pitch — A 1–2 minute introduction to your concept and team.
Optional Portfolio — Examples of relevant work, prototypes, or creative projects.
Scientific Integrity - Concepts grounded in meaningful ocean science, exploration, and discovery.
Audience Insight - Experiences that help people see, feel, understand, and connect with the ocean.
Originality - Fresh ideas that push the boundaries of immersive learning, storytelling, and participation.
Feasibility - Concepts with a clear and achievable path toward a working prototype.
Emoitional Impact - Experiences that spark curiosity, wonder, empathy, or ocean-positive action.
Potential to Scale - Ideas with the potential to reach broader audiences through education programs, public experiences, cultural institutions, or future OceanX initiatives.
Find answers to common questions about eligibility, submissions, timelines, team requirements, and the challenge process.
Inspired by ocean science. Powered by creativity. Join a global community of creators, educators, scientists, and technologists building the next generation of immersive learning experiences.
