The Urban Whale
A Digital Interactive Experience for the New England Aquarium

Kyle Bryant, Timothy Bujnevicie, Patrick Petersen, Adam Prueitt, Michael Racine

The Urban Whale is a serious game about the North Atlantic Right Whale, an endangered species that is being devastated by modern boat traffic and fishing practices. The project team created an interactive experience in order to evoke an empathetic response for the animal, provide knowledge about what human actions are hindering the species’ recovery, and engage players through gameplay. The work was created for, and in conjunction with the New England Aquarium. Students created models, environments, sounds, and coded complex interactive mechanics in the Unreal game engine.