Perception in Submarines

External homepage: http://www.sics.se/ice/projects/sub/

The project is aimed at designing and implementing an installation that illustrates the way that a submerged submarine uses sound to gather information about its surroundings. A submarine under water is more or less blind and relies heavily on its sonars to detect other vessels. Although the periscope can be used to spot surface vessels, its range is limited (a couple of miles) and its use also increases the risk of the submarine being detected. Sonars on the other hand can pick up sounds from objects hundreds of miles away. To make this point clear to the visitors, the installation is based heavily on sound, using a soundscape consisting of authentic underwater recordings of a range of different types of vessels.

The project is a collaboration between Swedish Institue of Computer Science and Statens Maritima Museer in Sweden. The installation is part of the on-going exhibition Ubåtsvapnet 100 år which has been on display at Teknikens och Sjöfartens hus, Malmö, and at Göteborgs Maritima Center (GMC), Gothenburg. It is currently on display at Marinmuseum, Karlskrona, and will be on display during autumn 2004 in Stockholm before becoming a more long-term exhibition back in Karlskrona.

Here is a video and some pictures and screenshots from the installation:

Perception in Submarines 2003-2004 Video (61MB Divx)