DataXplorer

Pick up the controller, spin the globe and choose an expedition: Cabo Verde, Walters Shoal, Monsoon Rise or Timor-Leste. Move from a planetary view to an individual seamount, circle it in three dimensions and investigate what OceanX discovered there.

DataXplorer transforms real data from four OceanX expeditions into an interactive investigation. Explore sonar maps of the seafloor alongside CTD readings, water-current information, vehicle tracks and footage captured by remotely operated vehicles. Each layer reveals something different: sonar maps the shape of the terrain, CTD readings describe conditions through the water column, vehicle tracks show where scientists explored, and ROV footage offers a direct view of particular locations in the deep.

The challenge is to bring these different forms of evidence together. What might the shape of the seafloor suggest? How could currents influence where life is found? Where would you send an ROV next, and what evidence supports your decision?

The datasets are drawn from real OceanX expeditions, although they have been selected and organised to create an accessible visitor journey. The aim is not simply to display scientific data, but to let visitors work with it: observing patterns, weighing incomplete evidence, making a reasoned decision and remaining ready to revise it when new information appears.

DataXplorer began during a hackathon aboard R/V OceanXplorer, where members of the OceanX Changemakers Community considered how expedition data could become something visitors could navigate and investigate for themselves. The hackathon produced the first prototype. OceanX Education’s in-house Immersive and Digital Experiences team then developed the experience further for the Amazon Web Services Summit, working with OceanX scientists and educators to create a new way for visitors to follow the evidence and explore the deep.