The virtual reality project Qikiqtaruk: Arctic at Risk is transporting people to Yukon's northernmost point without them ever having to leave home. Using real visuals and sounds, including the cracking and popping of permafrost thaw, the National Geography Society-funded project provides an immersive experience into the effects of climate change on the island in the Canadian Arctic.
"It really gives you a good reality as to what is happening with climate change as it's happening," he said. In the late 1800s, the island became the main base for commercial whalers in the region and a Euro-American settlement was established at Pauline Cove. The RCMP also established one of their first detachments in the Arctic on the island in 1903, hiring their first special constable there in 1909.
Myers-Smith said the idea to develop the VR project came around during the pandemic when researchers were unable to travel to the island. Jeff Kerby, a researcher and science photographer at Aarhus University in Denmark, said "seeing is believing" when it comes to changes on the island, the most obvious of which he said is the formation of huge permafrost thaw slumps. He said the VR project brought together Gordon, researchers and immersive content creators.