Ponant’s new explorer yacht Le Lapérouse will be the first cruise ship on Earth to be equipped with a multi-sensory underwater space, called Blue Eye, when she arrives in 2018.
The other three yachts of the Ponant Explorers series, Le Champlain, Le Bougainville and Le Dumont-d’Urville, will be similarly equipped when they set sail in 2018 and 2019.
The Blue Eye lounge will provided quests with a unique experience of the underwater universe
In a world exclusive, the underwater passenger lounge will be located within the hull beneath the water line.
The design was entrusted to architect Jacques Rougerie, who is deeply passionate about the sea. Rougerie’s mission is to enable Ponant guests to perceive and feel the underwater universe that has never ceased to amaze and inspire him throughout his career.
“In my work, I have always had my heart set on making people aware of the role that the sea has played in the history of humanity.
“The state-of-the-art technology developed with Ponant lets guests become modern-day explorers, following in the wake of Jules Verne, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and the great adventurers. They will be able to observe the fauna and flora of this sub-aquatic universe and discover its sonorities.
“The sound system in the Blue Eye lounge will be installed by Michel Redolfi so as to reveal to the guests the amazing listening capabilities of their bodies. For the first time in the world, the public, during a cruise, will be able to ‘feel’ and be at the heart of an underwater world. They will need to use all of their senses.”
All focus is drawn towards the two portholes, shaped like the eye of a cetacean and looking out upon the subaquatic world.
The lighting in the lounge is developed through touches, disseminated in the space, allowing the spirit and the gaze to dive into the spectacle unfolding outside.
The mural décor disappears to make way for the integrated digital screens projecting the images filmed live by three underwater cameras. Placed at the ship’s strategic points, these cameras enable guests to witness, for example, the spectacle of dolphins playing in the bow waves.
The sound staging has been entrusted to Michel Redolfi, a contemporary music composer and sound design expert. A result of his research into subaquatic music and his own inventions, the sound design of the underwater lounge develops state-of-the-art technology and offers guests an experience in acoustic immersion that is unique in the world.
Le Lapérouse is the first of four new Ponant Explorer ships arriving by 2020
Guests can listen to the underwater world thanks to hydrophones, developed in consultation with specialists from the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), that are integrated beneath the keel. The natural symphony of the deep sea is captured across a five-kilometre radius and transmitted live into the lounge in the form of acoustic waves spreading through the three dimensions of Rougerie’s architecture.
An immersive sound experience can be felt in the Body Listening sofas, which discreetly vibrate in unison while offering unique sensory listening through corporal resonance.
This exclusive sound experience is also offered through subaquatic concerts broadcast at sea or in the swimming pool.
Non-intrusive underwater projectors enable the observation of the of the seabed and photo-luminescent organisms from the Blue Eye lounge as well as from the outside decks, balconies and the marina-without any risk to the marine biosphere.
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