Today most people can just perceive the changing surface of their sea shores, but ignore almost everything on what it hides. Since the beginning of times, ancestral fear, obscure anxiety and instinctive ignorance, antagonise people and ocean depths... those blue depths, earth’s final frontier, that probably conceal the keys of human destiny. Discovery and knowledge of underwater world, may drive people into playing a more active role in the solution of problems facing our global environment, where oceans represent 71% of it all, but where those that know their depths – divers and marine scientists, represent less than 0,5 % of world’s population. Who knows that oceans contain 97% of planet’s water, determine its climate and weather generate most of the oxygen of the atmosphere and provide home for most of the life on earth?
For the first time, navigating freely thorough the undersea, unrestricted and boundless, a dream that few may have ever accomplished, is now at arm’s length, with new technologies and their innovative applications. There is a sense of urgency about offering to the public, ways to discover by themselves, how oceans – earth’s fragile life support system, are being irreversibly polluted and impoverished. Before the threat of desertification of ocean becomes real, it is imperative to digitalize them. This concept shaped Digital Ocean.
THE PROJECT
The project’s objective is to digitalize seafloor sites in 3D imagery, use the information on such sites to edit interactive virtual animated environments that integrate submarine video games and available audiovisual contents, diffuse it on-line... People on pools will also be able to experience multisensory diving, on those distant sites. Thus, an uninterrupted virtual space is created, as realistic as fast changing technologies will allow. For those billions of people connected to the internet, but who will ever dive, virtual diving offers a unique alternative to real diving, immediately available, without cost and safer. Suddenly, as the sea becomes transparent, they can see and understand. For the first time in history, digital technologies open the undersea world to the public in general.
Digital Ocean’s objective is the development of a consistent turnkey system that includes:
- precise data gathering, by side scan sonar, of detailed submarine information (diving and archaeological sites, Marine Protected Areas...)
- Data treatment, processing and 3D rendering with our dedicated editing software and collaborative groupware in order to reconstruct virtual representations of those sites, in 3D interactive and animated imagery
- Editing and publishing of those underwater sites for muli-platefrom broadcasting (online topographical guides, serious diving video games, scuba diving simulations as far as into swimming pools...
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OCEANYD: 3D Diving sites editing
The goal of this software suite is to edit subaquatic topographical guides based on real sites data and to promote scuba diving and underwater tourism & environment. Those 3D sites can posted on the Internet to allow the general public to discover the beauty but also the need to protect the underwater world. An online visibility will promote those destinations in a brand new way with a strong added value.
On the long run, those representations could be used as a scientific base for the integration and mutualisation of multimedia data, for the collective organization and follow-up of the underwater ecosystems of remarkable sites around the planet.
To achieve this prior objective, we are developing an online collaborative platform in which topographical mapping layer views of the sites are displayed and used as a support by the divers’ community (biologists, archaeologists, clubs, environmental protection associations...) to post and publish their submarine multimedia information (comments, photos, videos, sketches, diagrams...).
Once the data is collected, VirtualDive can edit a realistic 3D interactive representation of the underwater sites with its in-house editing software and post the finalized applications online.
Example of a 3D diving site based in the Mediterranean
NAUTILUS QUEST
This game is a subaquatic “edutaining” exploration video game, based on the 3D representation of the real diving sites. This exploration game gives the children the possibility to learn more about sea life (thanks to an underwater photographic safari), to seek for treasures and to discover fantastic sea-beds.
A first game has been produced in association of the PACA region (South of France). Other games could be produced for other underwater sites of the world in association with local Tourism Offices, diving clubs, diving & environment protection associations, diving equipment manufactors...
This Aquatic Multimedia Console aims to diffuse submarine multimedia contents under water, inside swimming pools, to simulate ocean exploration and scuba diving (by mixing real and virtual immersions) and for aquafitness and relaxation exercises. The overall concept follows the trends of new cyber sports. This system is conceived for all public in hotels, aquatic centers, public and private pools… It can be connected to the Internet and will embed the Nautilus Quest video game.
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TRYTON with embedded Nautilus Quest
Complementary developments
VirtualDive, in association with Heps and other companies involved in diving activities, is developing the first diving island in “Second Life” portal. This trial will allow the company and partners to prepare a marketing strategy for development of underwater environments in “Second Life” allowing Digital Ocean to get additional exposure with a group of internet users that may be more permeable to new technologies.
France Telecom R&D, leads the development of the project SOLIPSIS (http://www.solipsis.org/). This innovative project aims to create a public, massively-shared and user-generated unbound digital universe, sustained by a dedicated Peer-to-Peer protocol, with modern day rendering engine and some great and accessible 3D modelling tools. It is a decentralised Metaverse platform. VirtualDive will bring to this project the underwater 3D imagery created for diving sites and underwater video games.
The company
VirtualDive is an innovative company based in France that invented and patented Digital Ocean’s concept. Digital Ocean obtained the label of two French technology clusters: “Pôle Mer” and “Cap Digital”. The company is leading a R&D programme financed by the French Agency for Research, which includes a specialist in marine acoustics and two research Laboratories.
Awards
VirtualDive has obtained several awards for the Digital Ocean project :
- Tourism@ 2003 :Best innovation for the tourism and leisure industry (for the TRYTON)
- Aqualie 2008 : Best equipment for swimming pools (for the TRYTON) > French page
- IntraVerse Awards 2009 :Best R&D project and Most innovative virtual experience (for Digital Ocean) > French page
- Laval Virtual Awards 2009 : Jury Grand Price (for Digital Ocean) > French page
Associated partners
The project Digital Ocean is linked by a partnership with the Foundation Antinea (www.antinea-foundation.org) which flagship « Fleur de Passion » is leaving for a 10 years long cruise around the world to explore the most important eco-regions of our planet in the framework of a unique ocean expedition serving as the logistical platform for a diversity of projects that aim at fostering understanding, learning and getting active people’s participation on protection of oceanic environments. It has the support of the European Commission. This expedition will act as a front runner of Digital Ocean, validating and demonstrating its results. Digital Ocean will bring to the expedition the most innovative technologies of underwater data collection systems, 3D editing software and collaborative platform on-line and serious submarine video games and getting exposure to populations, scientists, diving organizations around the world and access to information and thousands of submarine images of the 100 most threatened marine eco-regions of the planet, as identified by the WWF in its project Global 200 and UNESCO in its World Heritage Sites program. It has the support of the European Commission.
Today most people can just perceive the changing surface of their sea shores, but ignore almost everything on what it hides. Since the beginning of times, ancestral fear, obscure anxiety and instinctive ignorance, antagonise people and ocean depths... those blue depths, earth’s final frontier, that probably conceal the keys of human destiny.
VirtualDive, in association with Heps and other companies involved in diving activities, is developing the first diving island in “Second Life” portal. This trial will allow the company and partners to prepare a marketing strategy for development of underwater environments in “Second Life” allowing Digital Ocean to get additional exposure with a group of internet users that may be more permeable to new technologies.
The project Digital Ocean is linked by a partnership with the Foundation Antinea (www.antinea-foundation.org) which flagship « Fleur de Passion » is leaving for a 10 years long cruise around the world to explore the most important eco-regions of our planet in the framework of a unique ocean expedition serving as the logistical platform for a diversity of projects that aim at fostering understanding, learning and getting active people’s participation on protection of oceanic environments. It has the support of the European Commission. This expedition will act as a front runner of Digital Ocean, validating and demonstrating its results. Digital Ocean will bring to the expedition the most innovative technologies of underwater data collection systems, 3D editing software and collaborative platform on-line and serious submarine video games and getting exposure to populations, scientists, diving organizations around the world and access to information and thousands of submarine images of the 100 most threatened marine eco-regions of the planet, as identified by the WWF in its project Global 200 and UNESCO in its World Heritage Sites program. It has the support of the European Commission.
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