A once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Three creative professionals who’d never met before. A passion for storytelling and education.

And, a dream, of bringing a magical experience to life in VR, with the goal of creating a better world.

These are the factors behind Found in the Fjords, a soon-to-be-released VR game which takes players into the Arctic Ocean–and into the culture of a sea creature which is more similar to humans than most of us realize.

Creators Dr. Louise Edwards, Tiffany Duong and Aya Walraven met for the first time during an all-women science and art expedition to the Arctic fjords. Louise, who is both a geoscientist and a VR developer, had wanted to enter the U.N.’s “Metaverse for the SDGs” competition. But, she says, she hadn’t yet hit upon a project that she felt explored any of these initiatives…

…and then, on her journey, she met Tiffany, who is an ocean storyteller and speaker/educator, and Aya, an emerging-technology and web-based media creator.

Based on the inspiration of their shared experiences during the journey, Louise, Tiff and Aya began working, as a creative team, on Found in the Fjords.

A world most of us never see

Entering Found in the Fjords, players become Nora–a young orca traveling to the Arctic fjords for the first time, with her family. Along the way, they’ll experience both “whale culture” (as Tiff explains, customs with orca, like customs among humans, differ, depending on the regions in which they’re living) and a different perspective on an often-misunderstood animal.

And the VR experience amounts to a call to action, in real life

Louise says she and her team are currently seeking beta testers for “Found in the Fjords”, with the goal of releasing the game later this year.

Already, though, they’re garnering some exciting honors.

As of June 2023, Found in the Fjords has been selected as one of twenty semifinalists in the UN’s Metaverse for the SDGs competition, AND received two awards in New York’s “The Art of Movie Making” festival!

Louise and Tiff shared the story of creating Found in the Fjords, explained what players can experience in the game and offered a preview of what’s next.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Found in the Fjords came about;

• How Tiff first came on board with the project;

• One moment, during the journey, which especially inspired Louise and Tiff to create the game;

• What players experience, in Found in the Fjords;

• How the game educates participants about orcas–and what that knowledge means to us, as humans;

• A closer look at “whale culture”;

• The way in which each team member’s skill set complemented the others in creating the game;

• How each grew through the experience of collaborating as a creative team;

• Main creative obstacles which Louise and Tiff had to troubleshoot;

• A “failure” that served as a lesson (and an encouragement!);

• Where the team is, currently, as they look towards releasing the game;

• Favorite resources;

• What’s next for Louise, Tiff and Aya!