“Mangrove City,” an interdisciplinary project with between the School of Communication, School of Architecture, School of Music, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, has made it to the final round of the Augmented World Expo (AWE) XR Challenge: Fight Climate Change. AWE is the world’s biggest XR Industry Conference and boasts one of the most fiercely contested awards. Mangrove City was one of only 11 finalists chosen from a field of 150 submissions from around the world!

IDSC Creative Technologies Director Kim Grinfeder and Director of the School of Communication’s Interactive Media program and the U’s XR Initiative says “A project like this would have never been possible without the collaboration of students and faculty from across campus.” Prof. Grinfeder will be presenting Mangrove City to the judges and the audience at AWE at the end of the month in Santa Clara, California. Faculty contributors are  Kim Grinfeder (SoC), Zeven Rodriguez (SoC), Ruth Ron (SoA), and Rafael Araujo (RSMAES), pictured below.

About Mangrove City

Mangrove City is a VR experience that explores the crucial role of mangrove forests in protecting coastal communities and mitigating climate change.

View video here: https://www.awexr.com/blog/xr-prize-finalists.

Mangrove City was a finalist for the XR Challenge: Fight Climate Change category. Each team will demonstrate their presentations in person in front of a live judging panel on May the 30th (create a free profile and watch live for free). The winners will be announced on June 1, 2023.

Read more at TechHubSouthFlorida.com