As part of the Media Lab’s “Friday Tea” series, Open Ocean provided a delicious experience to raise awareness of ocean warming, acidification, and coral bleaching. Using a novel tool-chain engineered by NovySan, 2D images of endangered corals were “automagically” turned into 3D printed, food-safe cookie cutters. Blank white sugar cookies were baked and displayed to represent a coral reef deep in the grips of a bleaching event. Facts about bleaching and ocean temperature and acidification were displayed as well.
Guests were then invited to combat coral bleaching by decorating the corals with vibrantly colorful and tasty frosting, returning the reef to health! Many guests to the tea had not realized the extent of bleaching globally, and for the price of a cookie and some cleverness, indicated they’d become more aware and would likely be in support of candidates and policies that would protect coral reefs around the world.
