Underwater ‘human habitat’ aims to allow researchers to make weeklong dives

To someday allow scientists to stay underwater conducting research for days on end, the UK-based company DEEP has designed Vanguard, a “subsea human habitat.”

The company unveiled its prototype Wednesday at a hangar in Miami, Florida, hoping that oceanographers and other researchers can use it to stay underwater in the ocean for at least a week, instead of only a few hours like most expeditions.

“There are zones in oceans around the world that are unexplored at those depths, and making them available and accessible by divers will open up a whole new realm of science,” Norman Smith, DEEP’s Chief Technology Officer and the lead engineer behind Vanguard, told AFP.

For now, Vanguard is situated only 20 meters (65 feet) underwater, a depth accessible by scuba diving, but DEEP is already work