French cruise line Ponant has announced the world’s first multi-sensory underwater lounge, which will debut on their expedition ship Le Laperouse next year. Located beneath the water line, the Blue Eye Underwater Lounge is designed to emulate the surrounding ocean, allowing guests “to ‘feel’ and be at the heart of an underwater world,” says the lounge architect Jacques Rougerie.
At the core of the experience are the visual displays. Two portholes shaped like whale’s eyes transform the ocean outside into a living aquarium, allowing guests to watch as the subaquatic world passes by. Integrated digital screens are also placed around the lounge, projecting live footage taken by the ship’s strategically placed underwater cameras. These enable observation of the seabed beneath the ship and spectacles above the water line such as dolphins playing in the bow waves.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrrtltxvXU0 autoplay:0]The walls will feature imagery of jellyfish
Guests can also listen to the underwater world thanks to hydrophones integrated beneath the keel which capture and transmit the sounds of marine animals throughout the lounge. To complete the multi-sensory experience, the lounge offers Body Listening sofas that produce vibrations in sync with the subaquatic soundtrack, allowing guests to feel even closer to the marine life they are observing.
After debuting on Le Laperouse the Blue Lounge will roll out on the three other yachts in the Ponant Explorer series and will be available to all guests at no extra charge.