“Into the Now,” is the photographer, filmmaker and explorer Michael Muller‘s first-of-kind underwater virtual reality (VR) project featuring nine episodic short films. “Into the Now” offers a revolutionary, stereoscopic VR experience that explores the most spectacular events in marine life, what Muller calls “the holy grails of diving.”

On July 14, Shark Awareness Day, the full series will premiere and go on sale worldwide via Oculus and through the “Into the Now” app launching the same day, which makes the VR experience accessible on a mobile phone.

The film series touches on the compounding issues of climate change, pollution and overfishing, while serving as an extraordinary educational tool as viewers experience the oceans firsthand through VR.

“People are most inspired to protect what they are connected to, what they have experienced firsthand,” said Muller. “This new medium allows me to share the world’s most magnificent ocean environments and animals that only a handful of people will ever experience in real life, with people worldwide. ‘Into the Now’ has the power to connect millions to our oceans, with a ripple effect into conserving some of the Earth’s most precious creatures and environments that we literally can’t live without.”

This is a first for VR, with underwater films captured on VRTUL1 and VRTUL2 stereoscopic 3D camera systems that use 9x 4k and 13x 2k Blackmagic cameras, respectively. The groundbreaking camera system creates a thrilling first-person experience throughout the series, including footage of a whale shark swimming over the viewer, great whites quickly approaching, and swimming among 500 dolphins.

Follow @IntotheNowVR and Michael Muller on Instagram and check out IntotheNowVR.com for more info.

A portion of the proceeds from the film series will benefit the nonprofits WildAid and Parley.