360° Videos and VR of NC Shipwrecks

Hi everyone, my name is Nic Fuller. With Above All Video and the team at Olympus Dive Center, I intend to shoot and edit full 360° video of the shipwrecks of North Carolina. These will be called Seascapes. 

North Carolina's coast has adopted the nickname "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". More than 600 ships have sunk here since 1526. These wrecks are now termed "artificial reefs" because they are a hot spot for marine life. 

Not sure what 360° video is? Using the technology of modern smartphones, tablets, and virtual reality systems, 360° video allows the viewer to look around the filmed environment as if they were there. By moving the phone, tablet, or your head(with VR systems) you can simulate looking around that environment. Imagine looking up just in time to see a school of amberjacks swim right over your head, or looking to your left to see hundreds of fish feeding on corals attached to a shipwreck with a long and amazing history.  

360° video of these wrecks will have both an educational, and entertainment value. Researchers will be able to play back the same dive multiple times from new perspectives to get more accurate fish counts and behavioral studies with minimal human interference. Schools, aquariums, and museums would be able to set up simple VR displays such as Google Cardboard https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/
 to enable students and guests to experience North Carolina's shipwrecks as if they were really there. These videos will also be available for free on YouTube so that you can see these wrecks from your home. 

The rig is composed of 6 GoPro cameras facing in different directions using a special underwater, wide angle, lens. This is set up on a tripod that will be mounded into the sand. Once recorded the videos will be stitched together in a program called VideoStitch. 

About me: I've lived in North Carolina since high school, but spent my entire life around the water. I have a degree in Show Production, and have worked in the industry as a Broadcast Operator filming live entertainment, among various other events. I now work at Olympus Dive Center, where I get to blend two of my favorite activities into one, diving and filming. An example of the work we have produced at Olympus can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUd9_q_jrgk
  
And here is another link of some work I have put together for fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5M1D2AruDA  
  
A link to my video company is below.
http://www.aboveallvideonc.com/#aerialvideography

I do hope to have this project funded by the end of July so that we can get as much footage of the wrecks as possible before the season is over. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!