Fact Sheet
Developer
MBARI, FathomNet
Moss Landing, California
&ranj Serious Games
Rotterdam, Netherlands
FathomVerse 1.0 Release Date
May 1, 2024
FathomVerse 2.0 Release Date
March 26, 2025
FathomVerse 3.0 Release Date
June 3, 2026
Website
fathomverse.org
Description
FathomVerse is a free app that invites everyone to contribute to ocean science. By playing blissfully productive mini-games, users partner with researchers to identify ocean animals in real underwater photos. Dive into FathomVerse to help scientists discover all life in the ocean.
Features
-
Be among the first to review real underwater images collected by ocean researchers.
-
Learn to identify more than 70 groups of ocean animals.
-
Participate in quests, earn badges, and track your scientific contributions.
-
Save and share your favorite ocean images in a personal gallery.
-
Cycle through the Ocean Radio channels to shift the FathomVerse soundscape
Background
FathomVerse seeks to transform ocean exploration by engaging a community of passionate ocean enthusiasts to work alongside researchers. Scientists estimate that anywhere from 30-60% of life in the ocean is unknown to science. Filling that knowledge gap is vital if we want to understand how all ocean ecosystems are being impacted by human activity and climate change. With advances in imaging and AI technology, we can capture images of the ocean and quickly analyze them. However, AI needs people to continuously train and verify the models. That’s where FathomVerse comes in.
FathomNet teamed up with game design experts, including &ranj Serious Games and Internet of Elephants, to develop a unique app that allows anyone to take part in ocean exploration and assist the whole ocean community in the quest to understand marine ecosystems.
Media
click to download
Hero Image
Logos
Previews
Promotional Images
Videos
FathomVerse Credits
We’d like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their contributions to FathomVerse:
MBARI
Monterey Bay Aquarium
&ranj Serious Games
Internet of Elephants
Barderry Applied Research LLC
Dingo Sky LLC
National Science Foundation
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation
Animal icons: Kurtis Wothe and other Phylopic contributors*
Animated logos: Kurtis Wothe
Audio channels: Hydrophone - John Ryan, MBARI, Ocean Soundscape Team; Into the Deep - Monterey Bay Aquarium, Into the Deep / En lo Profundo Exhibit
Award images and video clips: Jaida Elcock, MBARI’s Video Lab, 32K Productions
Mission briefing images: MBARI’s Video Lab, NOAA-OER
Badge images: Schmidt Ocean Institute, NOAA-OER
Labeled data: FathomNet Database contributors
Unlabeled data: MBARI, NOAA-OER, Ocean Networks Canada, Ocean Exploration Trust, Ocean Observatories Initiative, Schmidt Ocean Institute
Beta testers: Eric Albert, Laura Anderson, Kelsey Archer Barnhill, Madi Baird, Megan Barry, Sean W Brown, Allen Cheng, Riley Choi, Jack Dalton, Christina Des Rochers, Caroline Edmonds, Gisselle Farfán-Magaña, Katherine Farfán-Magaña, Tennyson Filcek, Davina Gifford, Alexander Graber, Micaela Johnson, Pat Lee, Caitlyn Left, Dennis Lieu, Alex Magaña, Vikram Mohanty, Christopher Nolan, Golnoush Pak, Lydia Rysavy, Heather Scott, Zuriel Silva, Aeryn Siu Lee, Gail Siu Lee, James Siu Lee, Josiah Terpstra, Ruben Van Pinxteren, Georgia Watson, Leander Weihs, Dane Whicker, Belinda Zhao
We are grateful for the contributions provided by the Science, Engineering, and Operations groups that work in partnership at various institutions for generating the imagery shown in FathomVerse.
FathomVerse is a contribution of MBARI’s Bioinspiration Lab and the FathomNet Program.
*Lauren Sumner-Rooney, Guillaume Dera, Felix Vaux, Kanchi Nanjo, Christoph Schomburg, Mario Quevedo, Levi Simons, T Michael Keesey, Nathan Hermann, Steven Haddock, JR Winnikoff, Becky Barnes, Prespa Research Group, AH Baldwin, Ferran Sayol, Séverine Martini, Ludwik Gasiorowski