EchoScout
Trace the Echo · Scout the Sea
A physical-digital experience that makes sonar tangible through play.
Build your own underwater world, then navigate it through echoes.
Interactive Learning Experience · 2024–2026 · Independent Project
Role: Interaction Design · Industrial Design · Electronics · Programming · Visual Design
01Introduction
What is
EchoScout?
EchoScout is a sonar-inspired exploration game built around a world players create. Players shape a physical underwater landscape, then pilot EchoScout above it. As the boat moves, LiDAR translates their creation into a simplified sonar display, guiding them as they navigate, discover marine life, and explore underwater terrain.
02How to Play
Build the world.
Explore by echo.
Learn how sonar works, create an underwater world, then pilot EchoScout through it. As you move, your physical creation becomes a digital expedition shaped by echoes.
Create the WorldBegin the Expedition
LEARN
Watch SONAR 101 to see how echoes reveal the underwater world.
BUILD
Shape a physical underwater world with terrain and marine creatures.
NAVIGATE
Pilot EchoScout as LiDAR translates your world into a sonar-inspired display.
DISCOVER
Follow the display to find marine life and read the terrain.
COLLECT
Unlock badges with each discovery and collect all six.
SHARE
Save and share the expedition you created together.
03Begin with an Echo
How does
sonar work?
I created this animation to playfully explain how sonar uses sound waves and returning echoes to reveal underwater terrain and marine life.
04Behind the Making
From first prototype
to final expedition.
Two years of designing, building, and testing—from the first sensing experiment to a complete play experience.
IN THIS FILM
- 00:00
From Sonar to Curiosity
Could people experience sonar exploration with their own hands?
- 00:53
Rethinking Sonar: Recreating the Experience
Comparing sensing technologies to recreate underwater exploration without water.
- 02:49
Building EchoScout: More Than a Sensor
Bringing the boat, electronics, code, and visuals together into a complete experience.
- 03:35
Light vs. Sound: The Biggest Challenge
Unlike sonar, LiDAR cannot see the seabed beneath a model fish.
- 04:22
Beyond Hardware: Changing the Interpretation
Shifting from physical experiments to software that preserves the seabed.
- 06:37
Learning to See: Combining Multiple Signals
Combining scan shape, timing, and signal strength to recognize marine creatures and terrain.
- 07:55
Making the Invisible Tangible
Inviting people to explore, discover, and learn together through play.
