Developing WaterHCI and OceanicXV technologies for Diving

The OCEANS bi-annual conference is the flagship event of the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES).

Sarah Jane Pell, Steve Mann, Michael Lombardi.

Technical Session 8.3 Marine Safety and Security

Technical diving requires us to be fully cognizant of our interactions with advanced life support systems, our adaptation to the natural environment and our participation in complex oceanic operations. It exists in the liminal space between water, humans, and technology. We explore the future of technical, artistic, and research diving at the intersection of water and human-computer interaction (HCI), specifically through WaterHCI (Water-Human-Computer Interaction) re-configured for eXtended Reality (XR) and eXtended meta-uniVerse (XV) technical diving systems. The ocean is a live and extended immersive environment. An OceanicXR/XV is key to re-envisage beyond the so-often undifferentiated oceanic-symbolic world encountered in XR/XV to support underwater omnidirectional awareness and communication. As we dive into exploring three underwater case studies, we are highlighting the probabilities of WaterHCI and OceanicXV for the future of technical diving. Through our experimentation to reconceive XV underwater, we initiate a quest for an HCI design language that incorporates interactions uniquely aquatic. The opportunity in the marine and waterways extended infrastructure of the metaverse is equally technical and conceptual. We aim to address the gap of design for dynamic and phenomenological paradigms spanning transits between submerged, terrestrial, and aerial environments, and into virtuality and alterity from deep time to Narcosis. Building upon the XV framework, we submit an initial framework conceptualization of the OceannXV to advance global impact goals in marine technologies for life underwater.

S. J. Pell, S. Mann and M. Lombardi, "Developing WaterHCI and OceanicXV technologies for Diving," OCEANS 2023 - Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, 2023, pp. 1-10, doi: 10.1109/OCEANSLimerick52467.2023.10244474.

Women in Oceanic Engineering: Celebrating Success Stories and Achievements

IEEE OES Women in Engineering Breakfast and Panel

Panelists: Donna Kocak, Lubna Luxmi, Sarah Jane Pell and Giulia de Masi (host).

Striving for the advancement of the theory and practice of electrotechnology, engineering, and related arts and sciences, applied to all bodies of water.

OCEANS Limerick 2023 IEEE OES Women in Engineering Breakfast and Panel, University of Limerick. Photos, Sarah Jane Pell & OCEANS 2023

IEEE OES Women in Engineering (WIE) hosted a special session breakfast with a panel that featured three women communicating how their experiences have helped shape their careers and how challenges & support have influenced where they are today. MTS and IEEE OES purposefully invited university students, Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs), and Young Professionals (YPs) to join this event and meet the leadership of MTS and IEEE OES as well as senior career industry, academia, government, military, and non-profit partners.

OCEANS Gala Dinner

Gala Céilí Dinner, at the Strand Hotel, Limerick. Photos, Sarah Jane Pell, OCEANS 2023

The conference banquet was held at the Strand Hotel and was followed by a visit to King John’s Castle for an exciting medieval experience. The gala program included traditional Irish music and dance, and 480 delegates could also enjoy the performances of Prof. Daniel Toal, whose fiddle melodies give the atmosphere an extra spark of Irish hospitality. The Céilí dances (/ ˈ k eɪ l i /, Irish: [ˈceːlʲiː]) or true éilí dances (fíor céilí) are a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland, and an event highlight.

The Marine Ireland Industry Network MIIN event

Prof. Yue Rong of Curtin University, Dr Ching Man of Analog Devices, Inc., Prof. Karen Wilshire of Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research and A/Prof Sarah Jane Pell of Monash University, international guests of The Marine Ireland Industry Network MIIN supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Marine Institute, with event partners at Foynes Yacht Club and Shannon Foynes Port Company, 8 June 2023.

The UN Endorses OCEANS 2023 Limerick

On 5 December 2017, the United Nations proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, to be held from 2021 to 2030. This Decade will provide a common framework to ensure that ocean science can fully support countries’ actions to sustainably manage the Oceans and more particularly to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The OCEANS conferences cover this decade and will be supporting the Decade of Ocean Science by providing a continuing international forum. OCEANS is the event for global maritime professionals to learn, innovate, and lead in the protection and utilization of the world’s largest natural resource – our Oceans.

⇐ Return to Conferences ⇐ Dive into workshops ⇐ See Expeditions