1. URI’s Inner Space Center hands assist to NTSB
(Published December 2016)
By SHAUN KIRBY
NARRAGANSETT—The Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Bay Campus
is a telepresence hub, the heart of communication between underwater research projects being
conducted simultaneously throughout the world. When director Dr. Dwight Coleman received a
call from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), he immediately offered up the
center’s services.
Coleman was tasked by the NTSB last year to help find the Voice Data Recorder (VDR) of the
El Faro, a 790-foot cargo ship, sank on Oct. 1, 2015, after being struck by Hurricane Joaquin on
its way from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico. All 33 crew members perished in what
was one of the worst maritime disasters in years.
And what was the Inner Space Center’s role? Installing telepresence equipment on board the R/V
Atlantis, which is owned by the U.S. Navy and operates out of Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute (WHOI), so that crucial video and search data could be transmitted to NTSB’s offices in
Washington, D.C.
“We had to do extensive testing to ensure the network was robust and all the technology was
working according to plan,” said Coleman Wednesday. “So, we largely played a technical
support role to facilitate the video broadcasts, data transfers, and voice communication. The
challenges were mostly in the beginning of the project getting everyone trained to work and
interact remotely ship-to-shore.”
The VDR was ultimately discovered this past April in 15,000 feet of water and has since been
under analysis by the NTSB.
“Finding an object about the size of a basketball almost three miles under the surface of the sea is
a remarkable achievement,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart in April. “It would not
have been possible without the information gained during the first survey of the wreckage and
the equipment and support provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National
Science Foundation, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, the University of Rhode Island, and
the many other partners involved in this effort.”
On Monday, the federal organization released a transcript of the VDR’s data recordings. Hart
singled out the Inner Space Center once more for its work in helping to discover the recorder,
saying it ‘provided secure, high-speed, high-volume data transmission’ from the sea floor to the
Capitol via Atlantis.
Coleman said on Wednesday that the center, which began operations in 2010, already takes on
an active role in installing and managing telepresence communications onboard research vessels
throughout the globe, but he hopes to partner with federal agencies more in the future. It also has

2. a strong education component, often bringing students behind the scenes of the latest biological
or archaeological find on the sea floor.
“I feel the [Inner Space Center] could play a significant role in accelerating the process of search
and rescue or search and recovery projects, bringing closure to time sensitive and important
investigations in a more timely fashion,” he said. “Also, this could lead to funding to support our
research and development enterprise at the ISC, working on innovative solutions for telepresence
and bringing the latest technology, which changes very rapidly in the video broadcast and
telecommunications industries, to these projects.”
“The more projects we do like this, the better we become at what we do. There’s a great future in
the world for the application of telepresence technology.”
For more information about URI’s Inner Space Center, visit www.innerspacecenter.org.