The Development of the MSU MyCoral Virtual Reality Application: An Innovative Approach to Educating Students on the Imperative of Coral Reef Rehabilitation

Coral reefs play critical roles in protecting coastal environments from erosion, mitigating wave impacts, and providing recreational and cultural experiences. Yet, these invaluable ecosystems face global threats, such as illegal human activities that cause widespread devastation. Management and Science University created MyCoral as part of its MyReef project to spread awareness and foster coral reef rehabilitation efforts. A key aspect of MyCoral is a Virtual Reality application designed specifically to simulate undersea environments - something Management and Science University was already doing through the MyReef VR application. Experiences provided through MyCoral VR enhance user understanding of coral rehabilitation processes for users. Following an iterative development model allows for robust user feedback and constant improvement through various testing stages; findings indicate that MSU MyCoral VR successfully increases public awareness regarding coral reefs by designing virtual reality-based training modules that emphasize coral habitation.