SUBGO, THE SHERPA JOURNEYS PROJECT THAT BRINGS THE UNDERWATER WEALTH OF THE GALICIAN COAST THROUGH AUGMENTED REALITY

Silvia Iglesias (in the image, to the right) and Sara Carrasco (left), members of the 13 Grados cooperative, are the promoters of SUBGO, an environmental education project that aims to bring the underwater wealth of the Galician coast closer to the public through VR technology or augmented reality. The initiative, which is currently being accelerated in the Sherpa do Mar entrepreneurship support program, Sherpa Journeys, will take shape in an itinerant outreach space that will visit different locations of interest.

It will include photographs, illustrations, interactive activities and an immersive 360º experience through the submerged landscapes of the Vigo estuary, which will be the highlight of the exhibition. "The objective is for visitors to discover the marine environment that surrounds them and its great heritage value in a different way, making them aware of its conservation and sustainability," emphasizes Iglesias.

To capture and create visual content, the project promoters have different professional profiles (audiovisual technicians, marine biologists, ROV technical pilots, etc.) and sophisticated underwater equipment. The shallow bottoms of the Vigo estuary, its cultivation platforms, the brown algae forests or the eelgrass meadows will be the main protagonists of these images, although the purpose is that the initiative can be expanded to other locations, both at the Galician level as to other regions.

Development phase

SUBGO is currently in the development phase. “We are taking the images, reviewing the content, writing the scripts and creating the virtual experience activities”, comments Silvia Iglesias.

The forecast is that the project will be launched on the market within a maximum period of one year and can be exhibited in possible locations of interest, such as educational, research and scientific dissemination centers or natural spaces, such as the Parque Nacional das Illas Atlánticas.

About Sherpa do Mar

Sherpa do Mar is a project integrated in the INTERREG VA Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Program (POCTEP) 2014-2020, co-financed 75% by ERDF funds, whose purpose is to launch a cross-border network of entrepreneurship in the marine-maritime field and blue economy, through the Sherpa Journeys program, which favors job creation and increased business competitiveness through the promotion of technology-based companies.

The project is led by the University of Vigo, through the REDE research group, Campus do Mar and the R&D Office, and has the participation of the Vigo Free Zone Consortium, the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) and the universities of Santiago and A Coruña. On the part of Portugal it has the participation of the Asprela Technology Transfer Association (UPTEC), UPorto-Innovação of the University of Porto (UPIN), the Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) and the Fórum Oceano-Associação da Economia do Mar.