FP7-RSME-262160 PROJECT FINAL REPORT Publishable summary Grant Agreement number: 262160 Project acronym: Digital Ocean Project title: Integrated multimedia mixed reality system, of real time virtual diving, by web teleoperated underwater data collecting robots, diffused online and through a network of submersible simulation devices. Funding Scheme: Capacities - RSME Period covered: from 1st of January 2011 to 31st of December 2012. Name of the scientific representative of the project’s co-ordinator: Antonio Dinis Title and organisation: President, VirtualDive Tel: +33(0)1 34 62 83 89 E-mail:
[email protected] Project website address: www.digitalocean.eu 1 FP7-RSME-262160 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction and rationale. 70% of our planet is covered by water and the very survival of more than 50% of humanity is conditioned by oceans. Nevertheless, only 0,4% of this population have ever seen, through actual diving, what exists under the sea, beneath water’s hiding surfaces. 25 million people are considered practicing as they dive, in average, a week per year. They come essentially from Europe and from the US, are generally middle class males averaging 35 years old and are motivated by adventurous aspects of diving. The number remains practically stable. Women, children, handicapped and seniors are barely accounted for in diving. Diving remains a risky, expensive and complicated activity for the majority of people, especially in emerging markets. In such conditions, the contribution of the diving community to the discovery of undersea or to global awareness of challenges facing the oceans remains limited. 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 neglected, irreversibly polluted and impoverished.