Habitat Projects:
The Deep Sea Virtual Habitat
Explore a dynamic, AI-powered, 3D open world on a coral reef 1000 meters deep.
The deep sea is essential to life on Earth. Deep sea coral reefs have fed the planet, stored carbon, and sheltered biodiversity from mass extinctions.
Deep sea reefs are a critical part of the world’s food web. The habitat is a
vast resource that we still don’t understand. So we must explore.
But the reefs are thousands of feet down, hidden in darkness and incredible pressure. You’ll need a $70 million submersible, a 270 foot ship and a crew of 50 to visit a deep sea coral reef.
We believe there’s a better way. A way to bring the
deep sea to students, scientists, institutions and the public.
The Deep Sea Virtual Habitat (DSVH) will be an innovative destination for research, modeling, and visual exploration in the deep sea.
Until now, no model has harnessed real deep sea data to produce a living, evolving environment. The technology simply didn’t exist. That’s changing.
Our science partners at The Cordes Lab have mapped a 250 mile reef on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. They’ve gathered rich datasets on geology, chemistry, and population. This data will power a generative AI model that grows and adapts alongside scientific discovery.
Just as studios like Lionsgate train AI on film libraries, we’re doing it with the deep sea. We’re building a data twin of the Earth’s last frontier.
Why Now?
The Deep Sea Is Under Threat
Climate change, mining, and industrial expansion are accelerating—but the ecosystems most at risk remain the least understood, and hardest to access.
Generative AI Has Reached a Tipping Point
Real-time simulation and synthetic environments are now possible at scale, enabling us to model dynamic natural systems like never before.
Demand for Immersive Education and Scientific Tools Is Surging
The AR/VR education market is projected to quadruple by 2033, with institutions urgently seeking next-gen, interactive platforms.
Ocean Policy and Industry Require Better Models
Governments and private sectors are investing in tools for environmental assessment, marine robotics, and public engagement — but they lack immersive, data-rich environments.
DSVH is uniquely positioned to meet this moment. Our unique dataset is powerful enough to capitalize on the potential for real time generative AI.
Market Opportunities
Education
and Science
The global AR/VR education market is projected to grow from $12.5B today to $46.6B by 2033.
Universities, aquariums, and foundations are investing heavily in immersive STEM tools.
Like Labster (which raised $147M), DSVH offers interactive science media—but built with generative AI.
Government
and Policy
Governments and regulators spend hundreds of millions on environmental impact assessments and deep sea data collection.
Complex data from the seafloor can be difficult to decipher. DSVH can provide an intuitive, visual tool to engage scientists, lawmakers, and the public.
Engineering
and Innovation
DSVH will integrate real-world parameterslike pressure, salinity, currents, and organism density to support R&D for:
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs)
Autonomous systems
Environmental modeling platforms
From Prototype to Platform
The DSVH prototype will be our proof of concept: a fully immersive 3D reef environment powered by generative AI. Our prototype will:
Begin with live data from a real coral colony on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Allow users to explore species behavior, environmental parameters, and reef dynamics in real time
Enable experimentation, research, and education—and feature transparent access to all data layers
Designed to Scale
The reef will evolve as it adapts to our growing dataset.
New reefs can develop based on the environmental conditions in large scale models.
DSVH will eventually deliver via API, making integration possible with classrooms, research labs, and autonomous system developers.
This is more than a model — it's the foundation for a living, data-driven digital twin of the deep sea.
Raising $750k in Pre-Seed Capital
Use of Funds
R&D – Advance our real-time generative AI engine to simulate coral reef ecosystems that evolve with environmental and scientific inputs.
Product Development – Build and launch the first MVP : a dynamic, data-driven reef model based on Mid-Atlantic Ridge datasets.
Pilots & Partnerships – Test the prototype with select universities, research labs, and agencies to validate educational and scientific use cases.
Live Testing – Deploy to partner institutions to gather feedback from students/scientists.
Outreach & Communications – Grow awareness through immersive demos, strategic press, and science storytelling.
Next Steps
Raise a $3M Seed Round in 12–18 months to build out the full reef model.
Integrate the generative AI engine to enable simulation of reefs and seafloor environments globally.
Expand data partnerships to include diverse reef types and ocean regions.
Our vision: a scalable, living atlas of the deep sea - generative, collaborative, and accessible.
Business Model : Multi-Sector Monetization Strategy
Licensing to Educational Institutions
Annual subscriptions to universities, high schools, and museums
API access for curriculum integration and student training modules
Partnerships with Government & Industry
Paid pilots with agencies (NOAA, BOEM, DOE) for impact assessment modeling
Licensing for deep sea scenario simulations and stakeholder engagement tools
Enterprise Simulation-as-a-Service
Custom model development for ROV manufacturers, energy operators, and marine tech
White-label AI reef models for product testing and training environments
Public Engagement / Virtual Experiences
Hosted events, VR exhibitions, and immersive installations in partnership with aquariums and NGOs
Sponsored content or donor-supported educational missions
Future Revenue Opportunity:
Dataset monetization via third-party AI model training for marine robotics and environmental monitoring.
Mission
Inspired by our science partner Dr. Erik Cordes,
Habitat Projects is building a real time,
AI-powered model of the deep sea — a tool for
understanding, exploring, and protecting
Earth’s last unexplored frontier.
Deep sea coral reefs have survived mass
extinctions over millions of years.
Now, they face a new threat: climate change.
Our goal is to create a dynamic, data-driven habitat that
evolves with science and sparks action. The DSVH will be
a powerful new resource for research, education,
and conservation.
Habitat Projects: Team
Ivan Hurzeler, Creative Partner
Filmmaker and virtual production expert. Directed feature doc Acid Horizon, and produced deep sea content for government and broadcast. Founder of Habitat Projects, blending storytelling with ocean advocacy.
Scott Anderson, Business Partner
Serial founder (Control Group, Intersection, Public Records). Advisor across civic tech, education, and arts.
Brings strategic vision and cross-sector leadership to impact ventures.
Dr. Erik Cordes, Science Partner
Deep sea biologist with 30+ expeditions and 47 sub dives. Professor at Temple University. Leads global research on coral reefs and serves on U.N. and deep ocean science boards.
Kyle McCullough, Technology Partner
CTO at Enginable, expert in AI and simulation. Former lead on Army’s One World Terrain. Builds high-fidelity, scalable digital environments with real-world data integration.
