Blueband Hermit Crab

This little Blueband hermit crab, Pagurus Samuelis, is a part of a larger project for the Monterrey Bay Aquarium to create a digital Tide Pool experience. I worked with a team of artists and scientists to create a realistic and interactive media experience in Unity. The aquarium guests can move around and touch the displays and learn more about the tide pools along the coast of California. Chosen specimens were sculpted, modeled and textured by me from photographic reference. I provided many of the assets for this exhibit and the interactive Into the Deep exhibition such as fish, crabs, slugs, anemone and invertebrates. The aquarium is excellent and I hope you can visit and experience it for yourself.

The spider conch shell shown in this post is a scan I made using my DSLR, some studio lighting and Adobe Sampler. The shell is part of my collection of specimens and I wanted to practice photogrammetry for an upcoming project. The results are very true to life and made for a cute home to put the blueband hermit crab in.