NEPTUNE BEYOND brings Underwater Data Awareness and ecorobotics into a new dimension
MYWAI, a Ligurian start-up specialized in industrial AI and with research laboratories located in the stunning Bay of Silence in Sestri Levante, has worked together with partners Immersea, NextVision and Istituto Italiano di Saldatura (IIS) to develop the first national demonstrator of Underwater Data Awareness applied to advanced anthropogenic installations managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), based on advanced AI techniques in underwater environments.
The demonstrator was developed in just three months thanks to NEPTUNE BEYOND, whose objective is to test the system developed within NEPTUNE on active anthropogenic installations. NEPTUNE™ is a project led by MYWAI, funded through a cascade call under Spoke 5 and affiliated with Spoke 3.
NEPTUNE™ represents a specialized evolution of the AIoT platform developed by MYWAI on proprietary patents for Underwater Data Awareness: a technology that enables centralized, real-time management of environmental and operational data from ROVs and underwater drones, transforming complex marine environments into operational intelligence.
From video streams to 5D Digital Twins
NEPTUNE builds ultra-high-fidelity digital twins by combining:
– 3D reconstructions generated through AI-based Gaussian Splatting algorithms from underwater photographic and video footage;
– 4D overlays of environmental and temporal evolutions, based on data collected from heterogeneous sensors;
– 5D semantic agents for advanced reasoning over georeferenced data.
An interdisciplinary ecorobotics based approach opens new perspectives for monitoring, analysis, and decision support in underwater contexts.
From marine biodiversity to anthropogenic infrastructures
The platform was initially validated, together with diving partners IMMERSEA and UBICA, in the protected marine areas of Portofino and Lipari, supporting:
– marine biodiversity analysis;
– reconstruction of submerged archaeological sites.
With NEPTUNE BEYOND, the evolution was natural: extending NEPTUNE’s capabilities to the monitoring of anthropogenic underwater installations, from offshore energy infrastructure to dual-use civil and defense scenarios.
Safety and prevention: the Stromboli case
The NEPTUNE BEYOND demonstrator was ultimately developed for INGV, applying NEPTUNE™ to the monitoring and maintenance of complex and high-value underwater installations dedicated to detecting risk conditions around Stromboli.
The INGV systems, installed and documented by IMMERSEA, were analyzed using the algorithms and expertise of IIS and NextVision.
Thanks to MYWAI’s NEPTUNE™ platform, the system:
– reconstructs and automatically updates digital twins from UUV video;
– analyzes images and time series of monitored installations;
– detects phenomena such as biofouling, corrosion, and structural degradation through 2D segmentation and surface color mapping.
An immersive 5D experience
Digital twins can also be explored through headsets such as Meta Quest, enabling operators and researchers to navigate 5D virtual environments based on the NEPTUNE™ Underwater Data Management platform: a new paradigm for underwater situational awareness and the application of marine ecorobotics.
For Spoke 3 of RAISE, NEPTUNE Beyond represents a concrete step toward safer, smarter, and more sustainable interaction with the underwater world, as well as a tangible example of technology transfer in the field of ecorobotics.
Cover image
Author (frame from video): Marzio Cardellini (Bluframe)
Credits: RAISE
