Virtual Scylla
[10.14.2006 | UK]
Robert Stone
Virtual Scylla The Fusion of Virtual Reality and Artificial Life for Reconstructing Marine Ecosystems.
Data Collecting Expedition for Scylla
Researchers from the School of Engineering have recently taken part in a new survey of Europe’s first artificial wreck, the Leander Class Frigate HMS Scylla, resting on the sea bed off Whitsand Bay near Plymouth. Prof. Bob Stone and Eugene Ch’ng joined forces with colleagues from the University of Plymouth, the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) and the Marine Biological Association (MBA). The group departed for the wreck site from Plymouth’s historic Barbican onboard the UK National, a boat skippered by Prof. Richard Linford, Head of the University of Plymouth’s Department of Communication & Electronic Engineering (Prof. Stone is currently a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Integrated Systems Design within this Department).
On arrival at the wreck site, the NMA and MBA diving teams set to work collecting marine life samples and new photographic records from the reef. Over 140 marine species have been recorded to date, including spiny starfish, pouting (shoals of which showed up extremely well on the UK National’s echo sounder), queen scallops, sea squirts, various species of anemone and algae, mussels, starfish and sea urchins. Whilst this was underway, the Birmingham team helped with the deployment of the NMA’s VideoRay remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The ROV was used to gain access to areas of the ship where more detail was required for the ongoing construction of the virtual model, including the bridge, helicopter hangar and landing pad at the stern of the vessel. The ROV also captured an excellent video sequence of a cuttlefish, disturbed in the vicinity of the Scylla’s bow.
The opportunity was also taken to obtain digital images of the Whitsand Bay coastline. In due course these new images will be imported into the computer games engine technology being exploited for the Virtual Scylla research and will be used to add visual detail to a recent three-dimensional model of the area constructed using digital terrain mapping data and medium-resolution aerial photographs.
The evening following the visit to the Scylla site, Prof. Stone and Dr. Keith Hiscock (of the MBA) presented on their organisation’s projects at a special Scylla Month evening event at the NMA. Scylla Month has been designed to encourage divers to visit the wreck and help to generate as comprehensive a marine species catalogue as possible. All of these records, together with those collected on this recent successful visit will provide essential data for the University’s ongoing research into marine life simulation and virtual environments.
About Virtual Scylla
Our research plans aim to apply the research to the colonisation of artificial subsea reefs by marine life. In support of this, and in collaboration with the UK’s National Marine Aquarium (NMA), we are currently extending and modifying the SeederEngine research to provide predictive visualisations of what one particular reef might look like tens of years (and longer) into the future. It is our eventual aim to assess the impact of possible global climate changes on the sea and to model other factors, such as the effects of pollution or other short-term environmental variations. The project involves NMA subject matter experts, particularly in respect of the marine flora and fauna that will eventually inhabit the reef, their growth and reproduction patterns, their responses to subsea environmental changes (pollution, temperature, etc.). It will be possible to collect regular validational information from the reef over time (via subsea webcams or regular dives on the reef using remotely operated or manned submersibles).
Currently, an optimised low polygon 3D model of the Scylla has been created and algorithms are being developed from extensions of the SeederEngine to accommodate artificial marine life forms. At present, data is being gathered for an early investigation to visualise the outcome in a real-time virtual environment.
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