Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute
Hamilton, Bermuda
7,000 square feet of galleries describe the central role Bermuda has played in oceanographic research, as well as its importance graveyard for ships. Visitors follow a path from the ocean's surface to the bottom of the Bermuda seamount, up through the deep, midwater, and shallows. Scott Guerin was the project designer.
An immersive experience starting in a surface laboratory took visitors down to the deeps in a submarine-styled vertical simulator with sound effects and video.
Styled after oceanographic instruments, NOMADS (New Ocean Mysteries and Discoveries) were able to be lifted above the floor for events. The interactive Laser Diver at which visitors searched a dark ocean floor with a laser pointer. Stumbling across a wreck, whale fall, or vent, a fiber optic light embedded in a “rover” illuminated the feature. The endless midwater exhibits floated in darkness.