New multi-camera system creates panoramic images of seafloor at 1,500-meter depth

Through panoramic stitching done in real time, scientists can quickly recognize underwater targets and adjust their voyage and observation strategy. In the past, they needed to wait until they were ashore to view the images, meaning they may miss valuable targets.

According to the university, this technology addresses long-standing bottlenecks, including limited field-of-view coverage, substantial errors in image stitching, and low-accuracy 3D reconstruction. The system is expected to support deep-sea scientific missions, such as gas resource exploration, seabed topography surveys, and cold-seep ecosystem monitoring.