OceanSpeak – Talk to a virtual seal
OceanSpeak combines virtual reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to give people the ability to step in the shoes of a marine scientist exploring the ocean.
OceanSpeak is a 20-minute VR activity where you meet harbor seals and learn from them how human activities impact the ocean and their survival. Through AI, you can have an oral conversation with the seals and ask your own questions about marine environmental issues, the role humans play, and how these issues affect seals.
Dr. Géraldine Fauville is the project leader for OceanSpeak.
Team Members
- Géraldine Fauville, Associate Professor in Education, University of Gothenburg (External link)
- Gustav Petersen, Postdoc in Educational Psychology, Stanford University (External link)
- Sam Dupont, Associate Professor of Marine Biology, University of Gothenburg (External link)
- Malin Rosengren, Project Coordinator, University of Gothenburg (External link)
- Karl-Johan Nylén, Communications Officer, University of Gothenburg (External link)
- Björn Källström, Development Manager, Maritime Museum and Aquarium (External link)
- Jens Ulvås, Marine Biologist and coordinator, Maritime Museum and Aquarium (External link)
- Tuva Rundberg, Marine Biologist, Maritime Museum and Aquarium (External link)
- Renée Göthberg, Exhibition Manager, Gothenburg Museum of Natural History. (External link)
- Sarah Giberman, Research Assistant, University of Gothenburg (External link)
Project evolution
The first prototype of OceanSpeak was developed in 2024 under the leadership of project manager Gustav Petersen (University of Copenhagen), with Geraldine Fauville as project owner and funding from Formas. In 2025, Petersen received a grant from the Carlsberg Foundation (CF24-0123) to further develop OceanSpeak and conduct research at Stanford University. During this subsequent phase, he developed an updated version of OceanSpeak designed specifically to foster empathy for the depicted marine life, and demonstrated its effectiveness through research studies.
