Cleaning Up in California’s Gold Country

On Saturday, September 21st, Sub Sea Systems’ staff joined over one million ocean lovers to remove trash from our beloved waterways. Sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy, the annual International Coastal Cleanup event focuses on freeing our oceans and coastlines from the global challenges of trash and pollution.

The Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit organization, has held cleanups across the globe for over 30 years. More than 100 countries participate in cleanups. The Conservancy provides volunteers more than just a lengthy list of cleanup locations and cleanup kits. It also collects data and reports on cleanup results. Last year, volunteers picked up over 23 million pounds of trash in a single day!

Sub Sea Systems’ team combined forces with the Greater Sierra River Cleanup crew, who removed debris and trash from the Sierra watersheds. 169 volunteers scoured ten different shorelines for three hours. The volunteers covered 11 miles of coastal terrain on foot and recovered 1,500 pounds of trash and recycling, which equates to 3/4th of a 20-yard dumpster. These results will be added to the 10-year totals of nearly 860 tons of trash and recyclables from more than 3,000 miles of river in the Sierras.

While plastic trash accounts for the largest percentage of debris, cigarette butts are the highest singular item collected. In 2017, almost 6 million butts were picked up during the Conservancy’s cleanup. This year, the Sierra crew picked up over 800, with Sub Sea’s team collecting just shy of 400. Additionally, SSS volunteers collected over 100 metal bottle caps and 100 pieces of recyclable paper.

In addition to coastline cleanups, some participants take it a step further. Project Aware works with scuba divers across the globe to protect underwater environments. Project Aware divers span 182 countries and have removed 1,493,381 debris items from 444 miles of underwater habitat.

If you’d like read more about the efforts of the Ocean Conservancy, or if you’re interested in joining next year’s International Coastal Cleanup and fight for trash-free seas, you can “sign up to clean up” at https://oceanconservancy.org/

Sub Sea Systems Crew

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Deep Dive - An In-depth Look

Check Out the Deep Dive VR Video!

Have you ever wanted to swim with whale sharks? Or snorkel a pristine, vibrant reef? Perhaps explore the depths of the ocean, or even deep space?

Sub Sea Systems and its partner, Ballast Technologies, have created a series of underwater virtual reality systems! DIVR, DIVR+ and Deep Dive VR will transport guests visually, physically and emotionally, into undiscovered territories, all while floating in water! Utilizing a snorkel and waterproof VR headset, explorers can glide alongside graceful humpbacks, feel the sensation of tickling tentacles, and experience a rush of water while zooming past sunken shipwrecks... all from within a swimming pool!

Born from a chance meeting at a trade show, a shared passion for the water, and a mutual drive to introduce new experiences to the industry, Ballast Technologies and Sub Sea Systems have joined forces to create these unique systems. Ballast Technologies is best known for its lightweight VRSlide System, which is utilized at water parks across the world.  Over 270,000 water park enthusiasts have worn Ballast’s VR headset while traversing water slides such as Galaxy Erding in Germany!

Underwater virtual reality is the newest in digital entertainment, allowing one’s mind to explore while the body feels an extraordinary, full-sensory experience of a near-zero gravity environment. When submerged in water, virtual reality becomes even more powerful!  The innovative underwater VR systems transport guests into new worlds via patent-pending hardware and proprietary software technology.


Three different Deep Dive experiences are bring created: DIVR, DIVR+ and Deep Dive VR.

DIVR is a portable virtual reality snorkeling system that allows water parks, hotels, and resorts to transform any ordinary pool into a vibrant, exciting attraction, where guests drift through coral reefs, shipwrecks and exotic locations. DIVR requires a small footprint– an area large enough to accommodate participants in snorkeling positions, without making contact with one another. During the experience, participants wear a flotation belt, underwater VR headset and snorkel. A swim tether is attached to an anchor on the bottom of the pool to maintain the guest in position. The video content begins with the tap of an NFC launcher card. In every direction guests turn their heads they see a different view of the virtual world.

DIVR+ is a portable virtual reality snorkeling system with multiple in-water sensor effects. Participants hold onto a thruster that produces water and air bubbles, which create tactile sensations. These elements are queued in perfect unison with the visual content, resulting in an incredibly realistic VR experience. Participants feel as if they are actually zooming through the water, corkscrewing through tunnels, or feeling the rumbling vibrations of swimming with a pod of dolphins. During the experience, participants wear a belt to assist with floatation, underwater VR headset and snorkel. The video content begins with the tap of an NFC launcher card. Almost immediately, the participant begins to feel jets and pulses of water and the tickle of air bubbles across their body as they move through a stunning virtual world. Dramatic visual cues sync with cavitation in the thruster and transmit vibration through the participant’s hands and arms.

Deep Dive VR is a fully self-contained, standalone system comprised of two structural components– a back-of-house building and a stainless steel and acrylic pool, 3 ft (1 m) deep. The pool features 10 individual underwater VR stations with acrylic dividers that provide separation between participants. Participants watch a one-minute orientation video, ascend an outdoor staircase to the launch platform, enter the water via a vertical ladder, and walk to their designated station. During the experience, participants don a floatation belt, underwater VR headset and snorkel. The video content begins with the tap of an NFC launcher card. Like DIVR+, participants feel jets and pulses of water, the tickle of air bubbles, and a rumbling vibration, all synced in unison with the visual content. This incredible virtual world is more real than ever before!

We are excited to exhibit these new products at several upcoming industry trade shows! Sub Sea Systems joins Ballast Technologies at IAAPA’s Expo in Paris from September 17-19th. Our teams will travel to the WWA in Orlando on October 8th and 9th, and again to Orlando for the DEMA show– November 13-16th, and IAAPA– November 19-22nd.  We’re also offering in-water demonstrations at select shows. We hope you’ll come and check out these fun new products, and chat with us about all things VR!

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