Modeling Marine Ecosystems With Virtual

Reality: The VES-V Environment

Introduction to the Virtual Ecosystem Scenario Viewer (VES-V)

Summary

In this tutorial you will conduct a “virtual dive” using the VES-V simulation software to

become familiar with its features. You will use VES-V later to support other activities in

this module.

VES-V is a data visualization tool that uses virtual reality (VR) to display simulations of

underwater environments in the ocean, complete with fish and other aquatic life. Using

VES-V is like taking a virtual SCUBA dive at one of several places in the oceans. VES-V

uses actual data, either from observations or from a model, to determine how many and

what types of fish to show in each habitat.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
VES-V Screenshot 1: sand flats in the Gulf of Maine

There are two versions of VES-V: one that runs online in a web browser, and a second

that can be downloaded to a local computer. We recommend the online version.

● Recommended: VES-V online (www.perspectx.com/VES-V)

● If access to stable internet connections is a challenge you can also Download VES-V

(https://nmfs-fish-tools.github.io/VES-V/) - choose the Windows, Mac or Linux version from

the links near the bottom of the page. This approach can be particularly helpful if

students are using a class set of computers. There is not a downloadable version for

Chromebooks, so you must use the online version if you use a Chromebook.

NOTE: VES-V is a large software file, so it may take some time to download or to load

into the web browser. VES-V also requires a fairly high-performance computer to run

well; we STRONGLY recommend you test it on the types of computers available before

using it with your class.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
After you download and open VES-V, or after you launch the online version, work

through the following steps to learn about the main features of VES-V.

1. Click on the “Northeast” region.

2. Click on the “Gulf of Maine” sub-region.

3. Click on the “Sand flats” habitat.

4. Click the “Dive” link (bottom center).

VES-V Screenshot 2: Navigating to different Ocean Regions and Habitats.

5. Hold down your mouse button and drag on the scene to look around - left, right,

up and down.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
6. Press the right square-bracket key “]” to zoom in, or the left square-bracket “[”

to zoom out. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can also use it to zoom in and

out.

7. Drag the yellow arrow slider along the far right edge of the screen up or down to

move up or down through the water column, from the bottom to the surface. The

up and down arrow keys on your keyboard also control vertical motion.

VES-V Screenshot 3: Navigating within an ocean habitat

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
8. Click any of the species icons along the left or right edges of the screen, such as

the “Atlantic herring” icon near the upper left. A graph of the biomass for that

species spanning a number of years appears.

VES-V Screenshot 4: Obtaining species specific biomass data

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
9. The yellow slider control immediately below the graph adjusts the year that the

VES-V visualization displays. Drag it right or left to change the year. More or

fewer fish and other species may appear as you move the slider, corresponding

to the biomass for each year.

VES-V Screenshot 5: Adjusting the year of the VES-V visualization.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
10. With one of the species icons still selected (and its graph showing), click the

binocular icon to the right of center along the top edge of the screen. VES-V will

adjust the view to try to place as many species as possible of the type selected

into the view screen.

VES-V Screenshot 6: Viewing as many selected species as possible in the view screen.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
11. Click on the selected species icon a few times. Notice how species of that type in

VES-V switch between a ghostly white display and a normal, colored display as

you select and de-select the species icon.

VES-V Screenshot 7: Selecting a specific species within a habitat.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
12. Click the green icon in the upper left, that looks like a file folder and has the

letters SCN on it, to choose a different scenario. A list of scenario options

appears in the center of the screen. In general, VES-V starts with the “Baseline”

scenario selected by default. Click on a different scenario, such as

“MarineProtectedAreas”, to switch. VES-V is now using a different dataset to

populate the species displayed in the scene and to generate graphs of their

populations over time. Most of these datasets are generated by models using

different assumptions; such as changes in populations caused by changing ocean

temperatures or an increase or decrease in fishing.

VES-V Screenshot 8: Selecting a scenario within a habitat.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
13. Click the “Return” arrow in the lower right corner of the screen.

14. From this screen you can select a different habitat (Mud Flats, Bedrock, Cobble),

you can select a different sub-region (such as the Georges Bank), or you can

return to the main opening screen via the “Return” arrow button - and select a

different region to explore.

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration