VISIONSཁ which stands for Visually Integrated Science for Interactive Ocean Networked Systems—was a five-week multidisciplinary research expedition to the underwater volcanoes of the northeast Pacific on the University of Washington Research Vessel
Thomas G. Thompson. A total of 55 scientists from the US and Canada were onboard for this expedition. This cruise resulted in the first live transmission of high definition imagery from the seafloor to shore. In collaboration with the
UW ResearchChannel, three live broadcasts were streamed over the internet in real-time allowing scientists, educators and the public to "watch over our shoulders" as we conducted research 7000 feet beneath the oceans surface. K-12 science teachers from throughout the US contributed to the research as part of the
REVEL Project: Research and Education: Volcanoes, Exploration, Life.
The VISIONSཁ Cruise is emblematic of the change that is taking place within Ocean Sciences in that the researchers and educators involved are beginning to develop and apply novel approaches to study the interactive, energetic processes that operate within the ocean basins and to directly bring this approach and discovery process to educators and the public.
