ACTIVE THEORY²
Abyssal Drift
Meridian Oceanic approached Active Theory² to build the digital companion to Abyssal Drift — their deep-sea exhibition created with the Deep Reef Institute. We extended the show beyond the gallery, letting anyone descend through the ocean's midnight zone and meet the creatures that live in permanent night.
The result is a living index of the deep: drift sideways between species, each rendered in real-time WebGL and catalogued by depth, glow, and behaviour.
SERVICES
- Web Design
- Web Development
- 3D Design
- WebGL
- Animation
- Sound Design
LINKS
Drag sideways ↔ or click the points to descend through the eco-system
Order: Coronatae · Family: Atollidae
Crown Jelly · Atolla
The crown jelly drifts through the midnight zone, invisible until touched. When threatened it fires a pinwheel of blue bioluminescence — a burglar alarm that summons larger predators to attack whatever attacked it. It never sees the sun.
Depth: 1,000–4,000m · Bioluminescent
THE DESCENT
An ocean you explore by drifting sideways.
Living index
Every creature is catalogued by depth, glow, and behaviour — explorable at your own pace as you drift.
Real-time bioluminescence
WebGL shaders render each creature's light in real time, reacting to your movement through the water.
Physical ↔ digital
A companion to the gallery installation that carries the midnight zone to audiences anywhere.
Shareable specimens
Any creature can be shared, letting the deep travel far beyond the exhibition walls.
Light that survives
the deepest dark.
A space to descend, drift, and learn how life persists where the sun never reaches.
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