--- title: VR Movie The Crystal Reef Explores Underwater Worlds: Watch description: “The reality is that many students and kids don’t have the access to an ocean, and virtual reality can be the bridge,” says Cody Karutz. canonical: https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-11T16:51:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:51:05.125Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch: VR Movie 'The Crystal Reef' Shows Climate Change's Impact og:description: Half of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years og:url: https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b5558f7ce15dc7/6988c220cf40a870a6c4727d/the-crystal-reef-poster-landscape.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Crystal Reef poster og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch: VR Movie 'The Crystal Reef' Shows Climate Change's Impact twitter:description: Half of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b5558f7ce15dc7/6988c220cf40a870a6c4727d/the-crystal-reef-poster-landscape.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch: Virtual Reality Film _The Crystal Reef_ Helps Kids Understand the Impacts of Climate Change by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 11, 2017 4:51 PM UTC  by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 11, 2017 4:51 PM UTC Half of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years. New research in the journal _Nature_ shows that even if people succeed in protecting reefs from pollution and overfishing, global warming remains a deadly threat. In _The Crystal Reef,_ viewers meet marine scientist Dr. Fio Micheli and see the effects of climate change. With Micheli, viewers explore a rocky reef off the coast of Italy to learn about ocean acidification and the toll that human-produced carbon dioxide is taking on the reef. _The Crystal Reef_ was produced by Cody Karutz. He worked with Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) to create the experience. “_The Crystal Reef_ is a science story that lets you shadow a marine biologist to better understand what they do,” Karutz told TFK. “Exposure is the first step towards developing a relationship with the ocean.” Karutz has launched a new educational startup called Blue Trot. _The Crystal Reef_ is now offered on Blue Trot and LIFE VR. “The reality is that many students and kids don’t have the access to an ocean, and virtual reality can be the bridge,” Karutz says. To watch the full experience and explore more exclusive virtual reality content download the LIFE VR app for [iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id1145044328) and [Android ](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.timeinc.life.lifevr)or visit [time.com/lifevr](http://interactives.time.com/lifevr/). _This_ [_article_](http://www.timeforkids.com/news/crystal-reef/593091) _originally appeared on_ [_Time For Kids_](http://www.timeforkids.com/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/"},"headline":"Watch: Virtual Reality Film The Crystal Reef Helps Kids Understand the Impacts of Climate Change","datePublished":"2017-04-11T16:51:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:51:05.125Z","description":"Half of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years","url":"https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/","keywords":["Virtual Reality","Tech","movies","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b5558f7ce15dc7/6988c220cf40a870a6c4727d/the-crystal-reef-poster-landscape.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9b5558f7ce15dc7/6988c220cf40a870a6c4727d/the-crystal-reef-poster-landscape.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Crystal Reef poster","caption":"The Crystal Reef poster","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/virtual-reality/","name":"Virtual Reality"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4734847/crystal-reef-coral-virtual-reality/","name":"Watch: Virtual Reality Film The Crystal Reef Helps Kids Understand the Impacts of Climate Change"}}]}] ```