Find Tahoe Tessie is an Augmented Reality (AR) app where users can learn more about how climate change is affecting Lake Tahoe through the search for the mythical creature “Tahoe Tessie.” Tahoe Tessie isn’t real but climate change is. Use your phone to search the lake and its surroundings for Tahoe Tessie, sometimes finding clues about water clarity, dissolved oxygen, algae, and the food web, each clue is accompanied with a question and an image, animation, video or 360 video. You will receive scientific tools along the way to help you better understand the clues you are finding and get you closer to finding Tahoe Tessie, these tools act as 3D/AR learning experiences teaching you how these tools actually work, just like actual scientists use when researching the health of the lake. Each time you find Tahoe Tessie you gain a new augmented reality animation, using your phone you can place Tessie using augmented reality right on the lake (or in your living room), then take a photo and share with your friends - “Look I found Tessie!” Go to http://tahoe.ucdavis.edu/FindTahoeTessie to find out more about Lake Tahoe and the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
