Many of the environmental problems facing us today are broad, subtle, spread across long timescales, and difficult to grasp. Sea level rise is one such problem that is sweeping in impact but difficult for the public to grasp its ramifications. One potential approach to improving community understanding of sea level rise is through the gamification of future conditions. Virtual reality is an emerging gaming technology that is unique in its ability to immerse users in environments. This can include current conditions and possible futures. With this in mind, could virtual reality be an effective tool in helping the public understand the impact of sea level rise? A virtual reality world depicting sea-level rise was created to explore this question. A section of Venice, California was rendered in 3D as the study area. Players can manipulate water levels to visualize various sea level rise conditions within this city. Building footprints, road networks, topographical and other data were assembled into a cityscape using ESRI's CityEngine. Once the city was generated it was exported into Unreal Engine. Navigation mechanisms were then created to allow users to freely explore the city. The result is a graphically simple but recognizable virtual reproduction of a section of Venice, California where users can explore and manipulate sea level.
