Visualising the Invisible
This research project aims to explore intersections of game design, marine science, and psychology, aiming to advance educational materials and methods for ocean literacy and pro-environmental behaviour.
Institution
School of Design, University of Leeds
Partner
Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto
Year
2026
Design research
Game mechanics, educational technologies, science communication, ocean literacy, immersive environments
The project
Can you care about a change you can't see?
Ocean acidification leaves nothing to photograph. There's no oil slick and no plastic on the beach, only a slow shift in seawater chemistry that wears away what corals, shellfish and kelp forests need to survive. Because we can't see it, it feels distant. Risks that feel distant rarely change what we do.
Visualising the Invisible asks whether augmented reality can close that distance. With marine scientists at CIIMAR, University of Porto, we're designing AR experiences for Meta Quest 3 that place an acidifying coastal ecosystem in the room you're standing in. Every version tells the same science in the same visual world. Only the way you play changes: you might answer questions, try to keep organisms alive as the pH falls, or decide how to spend a limited budget to protect the coast before the window closes.
The question behind it is simple and has rarely been tested: does how you play change what you learn, and what you do afterwards? Instead of asking people what they intend to do, the study watches the choices they actually make.
In development — School of Design, University of Leeds, and CIIMAR, University of Porto.
Mechanics and outcomes
What is it about a game that actually helps someone understand the ocean?
Games are built from components, and each seems to do different work. Quizzes, challenges and feedback tend to build short-term knowledge. Role-play, negotiation and decision-making scenarios encourage systems thinking, communication and intentions to act. Narrative and exploration create emotional engagement and a sense of connection with the sea. The figure below follows eight of these components through thirteen ocean literacy games to the outcomes they report.
Hover over a mark to see the projects behind it.
Figure A · Directed chord
Game mechanic → outcome co-occurrence
Behind the figure
What do we actually know about games and ocean literacy?
The figure draws on a structured review of game-based projects in ocean literacy and marine science education: the theories they build on, how they were evaluated, and what they report.
The picture is promising but thin. Most studies rely on small samples, self-reported measures and tests straight after play, and evidence of lasting behaviour change is scarce. That gap is what Visualising the Invisible sets out to address: changing one way of playing at a time, and observing real choices rather than stated intentions.
Publication
Leitão, R. (in press). Chapter reviewing game-based learning in ocean literacy and marine science education. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Visual exploration
