Uncharted waters
XPR IZE launches US$7M ocean-based competition.
The XPRIZE Foundation, known for enticing investors into space travel, is announcing a new competition Monday to explore an uncharted frontier here on Earth: The deep blue sea.
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE will offer US$ 7 million to teams willing to pioneer new forms of underwater exploration to find sources of pollution and make medical discoveries. XPRIZE, a 20- year old non- profit whose board members include Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Alphabet Inc.’s CEO Larry Page, tries to solve major global challenges by creating and managing large-scale incentive competitions.
In two rounds held over three years, 25 teams will test their technologies at two undisclosed locations — at depths of 2,000 and 4,000 metres — to explore a 500- square- kilometer area. The teams will be expected to map the seafloor, take a high- resolution photograph of an object specified by the XPRIZE organizers, and identify archaeological, biological or geological features with photographs.
It’s the 12th competition held by the foundation, and the third ocean-related contest (there will be two more by 202). The competition will officially launches at Monday’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting. To date, XPRIZE has completed six competitions, awarding more than US$30-million in prize money. There are now six active competitions underway, including this latest one, which will award roughly US$90 million in total prize money.
XPRIZE will launch two more ocean- based prizes by 202. The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE will be announced at a live- streaned press conference in San Francisco Monday at 12: 30 PST. The Twitter hashtag for the Ocean XPRIZE is #OceanDiscovered.