The « ImmerSea Rade, » project supported by the Dassault Systèmes Foundation, has been led by 25 students from the ISblue university school since January 2023. It aims to create an interactive 3D virtual tour of the harbor from Brest to Ouessant, tracing its evolution over 12,000 years in 3 minutes. This experience enables the public to understand the changes in the harbor, including the fact that Brest wasn’t always on the coast and that it was once possible to walk from Brest to Crozon.
ISblue students, specializing in marine and coastal sciences, used technological tools to model the roadstead, integrating scientific data and technical support from the Dassault Systèmes Foundation (3DEXPERIENCE). The project is part of the ImmerSea LAB, a broader educational program designed to immerse students and researchers in virtual environments to solve marine and coastal problems using GIS tools.
The Dassault Systèmes Foundation is supporting this project to transform education and research, stimulate creativity and innovation, and raise awareness of ocean issues through 3D modeling. This approach makes it possible to test hypotheses and design solutions while improving understanding of changes, as is the case in Brest roadstead and other locations.
« 3D makes it possible to test hypotheses, find solutions and thus improve reality. With this project, we wanted to make a further commitment to raising awareness of major ocean issues, using virtual universes to support the learning of fundamental disciplines. This use of 3D can also be an opportunity to develop new skills and create vocations towards scientific careers » explains Jean-Marc Galéa, Project Manager for La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.
Maxime Kernec, coordinator of the ImmerSea LAB at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, emphasizes the importance of 3D for illustrating these transformations, while Riwalenn Ruault, ISblue’s pedagogical engineer, talks about the students’ involvement in this fascinating project, which began with a hackathon in January 2023, followed by fieldwork in Ouessant in June (https://decryptageo.fr/fete-de-science-modelisation-3d-de-rade-de-brest-immersea-rade/).
The project also offers a glimpse into the future of the harbor. Based on a simulation of sea level rise over the next few years, using data produced by the IPCC, we can see that several hectares of land will be covered by water.
References :
- https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fcedf244585c489ca01f082581b0bd1a
- https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e7fec0df329845c8ac1c08402696586f
- https://decryptageo.fr/fete-de-science-modelisation-3d-de-rade-de-brest-immersea-rade/