Throughout the summer, the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco offers you a 4D underwater experience. Thanks to a virtual reality headset developed by SubOcéana, try an original experience: a 360° immersion in films shot both on and under the water.Comfortably seated in the conference room chairs, you first attend a presentation on the evolution of imaging techniques used by the institute since its opening in 1889. Prince Albert I, its founder, has always been passionate about new technologies. So much so that he brought painters on his expeditions to depict underwater fauna and flora, or later on, he embarked the very first cameras to immortalize the dives of the time. Another great figure of the museum, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who directed it for 32 years. The commander’s passion for underwater images needs no introduction. This journey through time concludes with the virtual reality attraction, a new milestone in the history of the museum.
For this first immersion, you will visit a bird island, have the chance to place a beacon and release a sea turtle back into the reefs of Tubbataha in the Philippines, and finally dive into these turquoise waters with multicolored corals to discover the evolution of the turtles tagged by the institute. These images come from an expedition led by the Oceanographic Museum last April, filmed by a 360° camera. With the headset on your eyes, you can look all around, from bottom to top, and swim in the clear waters of the Sulu Sea as if you were really diving there. A fun animation that is part of the museum’s commitment to raise visitors’ awareness of the protection of the oceans and the animals that inhabit them, in this case, the protection of turtles. This museum attraction is developed in parallel with the project of the turtle care center which will open its doors to the public at the end of 2017.
The Immerseave 360° is offered on the museum’s opening days, until August 31st. The animation lasts 25 minutes, including 6 minutes of immersion, and costs €8. Enough to make you want to dive.
Margot Harty
featured image: © Philippe CarrezSave
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