Turning the Tide: Wildflow's Vision of a Digital Twin for Every Coral Reef

Coral reefs are often referred to as the rainforests of the sea—incredibly diverse, beautiful, and essential to life both underwater and above it. Yet, despite their importance, we face the prospect of losing 90% of coral reefs by 2050. For the billions of people who rely on these ecosystems for food, income, and coastal protection, the stakes couldn't be higher. This is where Wildflow comes in, striving to change the narrative from loss to restoration.

Wildflow’s mission starts with a simple belief: We need to understand coral reefs deeply if we're to save them. These complex ecosystems cover only 0.1% of the ocean but support 25% of all marine species. They act as natural shields for coastal communities, sustain fisheries, and attract tourists, bringing much-needed revenue. Unfortunately, coral reefs are facing rapid decline, pushed to the edge by rising ocean temperatures, pollution, and human activities. The time to act is now and Wildflow is stepping up to do just that.

Wildflow has recently hit a major milestone on their journey— a prototype they've dubbed a "3D Street View for Coral Reefs." Imagine being able to virtually swim through a vibrant coral reef, exploring the underwater landscape from the comfort of your web browser. Wildflow has made this possible by leveraging Radiance Field based technology, 3D Gaussian Splatting, to create high-resolution, interactive digital twins of coral reefs.

This prototype is a step towards monitoring coral reefs at scale, providing an easy and affordable way for anyone to witness the beauty and fragility of these ecosystems. As Wildflow CEO Sergei Nozdrenkov explains, this is just the beginning—a prototype covering a mere 5 by 7 meters of reef using only a fraction of the available data. Despite its early stage, it already offers a resolution unmatched by other publicly available reef models, all while running directly in your browser with no backend servers required.

The Vision for a Digital Twin of Coral Reefs

Wildflow is currently seeking $1M in non-dilutive funding to become commercially viable within a year. This funding will support the onboarding of 2-3 top-level researchers, engineers, and marine biologists, helping to build the first multimodal foundation models for biodiversity. This ambitious goal aims to empower humanity to make better decisions in protecting and restoring coral reefs.

Wildflow’s first product, aims to be the ultimate digital twin of coral reef ecosystems—a comprehensive model that integrates Radiance Fields, bioacoustics, eDNA, and other environmental data. By combining these different modalities, they are creating a tool that can analyze complex ecosystem dynamics, assess health metrics, and uncover the mechanisms behind changes in the reef environment, in addition to documenting coral reefs.

Nozdrenkov envisions this technology scaling up to cover square kilometers of reef in centimeter-level detail. While it might sound crazy to have Radiance Fields this large, it's already been proven to be possible right now through papers like NeRF-XL. Soon, users will be able to fly over reefs from different parts of the world, compare their conditions over time, and gain insights that were previously inaccessible. Wildflow’s ambition is clear: to leverage technology to guide the understanding, protection, and restoration of coral reef ecosystems.

Moreover, Wildflow is planning to use 4D Gaussian Splatting for time-series data, allowing users to move a time slider and see how coral reefs evolve over time. This exciting feature will make it possible to observe changes in reef health, growth, and other dynamics across different periods. The data for this feature has been provided by collaborators at the University of Amsterdam, and the team is actively working on integrating it.

Wildflow use raw images from cameras like GoPros (with plans to use robots in the future), point clouds from software like Metashape, and reconstructed camera positions. From this data, they train 3D Gaussian splats and visualize them in the browser using the amazing MIT-licensed library from GaussianSplats3D.

Point clouds generated from photogrammetry provide well-scaled models, while 3D Gaussian splats enable beautiful visualizations that users can easily navigate. Future 3D segmentation and coral reef classification models will take raw images and 3D point clouds as input, rather than using the splats directly. Wildflow also plans to visualize additional information on top of 3DGS, allowing users to click on different parts of the reef and see details like colony types.

In the coming months, Wildflow will also implement Octree and different levels of detail (LODs) to stream the radiance fields more efficiently, allowing for the visualization of massive scenes. While they have all the data they need, visualization remains the current bottleneck. Soon, Wildflow will also provide an API that allows users to run any Python code against all of their data. This feature will empower researchers and enthusiasts to explore the data in novel ways, contributing to a greater understanding of coral reef ecosystems.

Wildflow's mission extends beyond scientists or conservationists to anyone who depends on coral reefs, which means billions of people worldwide. Environmental NGOs can use the digital twin to monitor reef health, track the success of restoration projects, and prove their impact to donors. Governments and policymakers can develop effective, data-driven environmental policies, while philanthropic organizations can identify and fund high-impact projects with confidence.

Even industries like insurance and coastal tourism have a stake in Wildflow’s mission. Accurate, high-resolution digital twins of coral reefs offer insurers a precise way to assess risk to coastal properties and marine assets, while tourism boards can ensure they protect the natural assets that draw millions of visitors each year. And for citizen scientists and diving enthusiasts, this platform offers a unique way to contribute meaningfully to reef conservation efforts.

Nozdrenkov’s announcement was filled with optimism and transparency. He also emphasized their funding and recruitment goals, highlighting the need for additional support to continue their impactful work. Wildflow knows their prototype is far from complete, calling it only "10% done." Yet, the excitement and potential are unmistakable. The team behind this milestone includes experts in 3D reconstruction, AI, and marine science, and they are just getting started. The prototype might be scrappy, but it’s a first glimpse at a future where coral reefs can be understood, protected, and restored with precision.

One of the most inspiring aspects of Wildflow’s approach is its open-source philosophy. The entire project is shared under an MIT license, inviting collaboration from developers, researchers, and enthusiasts around the world. The aim is to make conservation tools accessible to all, to unite a community of passionate individuals who share their vision of a future where humans and nature thrive together.

By combining the latest in Radiance field technology, AI, and ecological expertise, they are taking bold steps towards understanding and preserving one of Earth’s most threatened yet vital ecosystems to help leave the world better than we found it. Check out more information about Wildflow on their website or GitHub.