Echoing the stakes of the United Nations Ocean 2025 Conference (Nice, June 9-13), discover the virtual reality experience “TO'A, Balade en forêt de corail”, which plunges you into the heart of Polynesian representations of coral.

The experience was conceived and produced in French Polynesia by the Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l'environnement (CRIOBE) in collaboration with Serge Planes, Cécile Berthe and 3D animation studio Black Pearl Factory, based in the Society Islands.

“TO'A, Balade en forêt de corail” tells the story of the coral's life cycle, and lets you manipulate fragments of coral skeletons. The experience is available in French and English, and can be accessed free of charge (via Oculus Quest) for the benefit of as many people as possible, from schoolchildren learning about marine biology to the general public curious about ocean life.

The experience takes us on a journey of discovery of some emblematic coral species, with a wide diversity both in shape and underwater location. To immerse us in this universe, the researchers have used X-ray tomography (a non-destructive imaging technique for radiographing an object at 360°) and also hand tracking technology, present on virtual reality headsets.

This immersive experience transports us into a poetic sound narrative accompanied by the underwater depths and forests of Moorea, narrated by two Polynesian interpreters in French and English.

The genesis of the experience is Corallum fabrica, initiated thanks to funding from the Corail3D project and supported by the ELIA team at LAAS-CNRS and the Dassault Systemes Fondation. This project, at the heart of Elise Rigot's thesis, supervised by Professor Christophe Vieu, brings together several interactions within the LAAS-CNRS Environment division and the ELIA team, notably with the involvement of its leader Laurent Malaquin. It is the fruit of numerous scientific collaborations with the CNRS-National Museum of Natural History of Paris, the Arago laboratory, Oceanological Observatory of Banyuls-Sur-Mer, the Institute of Fluid Mechanics de Toulouse and the Center for Insular Research and Environmental Observatory CRIOBE.

Find out more about the " TO’A “ experience.