AQUARIUS SITS ON OCEAN FLOOR NEXT TO DEEP CORAL REEF

THE AQUARIUS PROJECT™

A Documentary Record of Early Internet Innovation

Bill Mapp
Creator & Executive Producer

Recognized during the formative years of the commercial Internet era for pioneering advancements in immersive digital communications, live Internet broadcasting, remote educational participation, and subsea connectivity. 

Developed in collaboration with Dr. Bob Ballard — the renowned oceanographer who discovered the RMS Titanic and founder of The Jason Foundation and "Jason  VII: Adapting to a Changing Sea" expedition  which was live during April 15-26, 1996.  The Aquarius Project™ had daily subsea broadcasts live from the Aquarius Reef Base  underwater scientific research exploration habitat base on the bottom of the ocean floor — to students, educators, scientists, and audiences from around the globe. 

For the first time in  history,  kids of all ages, in classrooms literally from around the globe, could join Dr. Bob with top scientists from around the world, to experience  the exploration, adventure and discovery, live from the bottom of the ocean floor. 

 The participants for the Jason VII Project, with the help of the multi-million dollar Aquarius Project and production, exploded 70X growth from just 75,000 remote by satellite the year before, to over 5,000,000+ online literally spanning the globe - inspiring a future generation of scientists, explorers, engineers, and educators.

The Aquarius Project project was formally recognized during the 1996 National Information Infrastructure (NII) Awards in New York City — widely described during the era as the “Academy Awards of the Information Age” and the “Oscars of the Internet” by USA Today and others.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The official name Bill Mapp put on the entry form for the NII Awards was "The Jason VII Project Undersea Internet Site." But, unofficially he named it "The Aquarius Project" after the "Aquarius" Reef Base that sits on the edge of a deep coral reef. Inside the Aquarius Reef Base habitat was where the website was going to be installed and connected live to the "World-Wide Web".  The Aquarius was, and still it the worlds only underwater scientific habitat.  It sits over six stories deep on the ocean floor and over five miles out to sea. Ten foot plus waves, strong currents, sharks, barracudas, fire coral, and poor visibility, massive Groupers, and much more, you'll find it all there.

The Aquarius Project™ was developed during the formative years of the commercial Internet — prior to broadband adoption, large-scale streaming platforms, cloud infrastructure, social media, or modern immersive communications technologies.

At the time, most Internet users accessed the web through dial-up modem connections, streaming media technologies were still experimental, and large-scale live Internet broadcasting was virtually nonexistent.

Against this backdrop, The Aquarius Project™ integrated live Internet broadcasting, scientific exploration, educational participation, satellite communications, and subsea connectivity at a scale rarely attempted during the era — helping demonstrate the future potential of immersive communications, connected infrastructure, and large-scale remote participation over the Internet.

INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION, SUPPORT & HISTORICAL RECOGNITION

The Aquarius Project™ was supported through a broad collaboration of technology, scientific, governmental, educational, media, and communications organizations reflecting the interdisciplinary scale and complexity of the initiative during the formative years of the commercial Internet era.

EDS, now part of the HPE lineage, served as the founding sponsor and technology provider for the Jason Foundation and JASON Project ecosystem, while also providing the primary communications and Internet infrastructure in support of The Aquarius Project™ NextGen expedition initiatives.

Institutional participation and support additionally included IBM, AT&T, NASA, SRI International, the Jason Foundation for Education, the National Geographic Society, the American Film Institute (AFI), the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), Continental Airlines, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, American Film Institute, Disney, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and more than 70 participating technology, scientific, educational, governmental, media, and communications organizations, together with hundreds of dedicated volunteers worldwide that helped make it possible.

Developed as part of the JASON VII expedition initiative with Dr. Bob Ballard, The Aquarius Project™ contributed to a broader body of Information Age educational and technology innovation recognized during the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards era and associated historical archival efforts connected with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

The Aquarius Project™ was formally recognized during the early December 1996 National Information Infrastructure (NII) Awards in New York City — widely described during the era as the “Academy Awards of the Information Age” and the “Oscars of the Internet.”

The historical record reflects The Aquarius Project™ as a pioneering large-scale Internet initiative helping demonstrate the future potential of immersive communications, connected infrastructure, live digital broadcasting, remote educational participation, and Internet-enabled scientific collaboration during the early years of the public Internet.

DOCUMENTED INTERNET & COMMUNICATIONS FIRSTS

The Aquarius Project™ established several documented Internet and communications world’s firsts during the formative years of the commercial Internet era, including:

• World’s first underwater website

• World’s first subsea Internet of Things (IoT) connection

• World’s first ship-to-shore wireless T1 Internet microwave communications link

• World’s first underwater virtual reality (VR) habitat tour

• World’s first live underwater Internet camera feeds streaming continuously from the ocean floor, 24/7

• World’s first live Internet “Reality TV” scientific expedition broadcast series from the ocean floor

• World’s first live ocean-floor Internet chat sessions connecting scientists, educators, and students worldwide

• World’s first live subsea STEM distance learning global classroom broadcast over the Internet

• World’s first live scientific expedition broadcast over the Internet from the bottom of the ocean floor — helping inspire the next generation of future science and technology leaders

 • World’s first live ocean-floor-to-space educational communications link, connecting the Aquarius undersea habitat with NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid aboard the Russian space station Mir as part of the JASON VII educational broadcast initiative. 

The historical record reflects The Aquarius Project™ as one of the pioneering large-scale Internet initiatives of the 1990s — contributing to the early evolution of live streaming, immersive communications, subsea IoT connectivity, Internet-based distance learning, and large-scale digital educational engagement.