The Shell and the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have joined hands to sponsor a $7 million XPrize, which they say will help promote the development of new sensors, robotic submerisbles and other technologies.

This new initiative aims to explore the seafloor as it can lead to advances in a variety of areas. For example, a Caribbean Sea sponge was used in developing a number of drugs, including HIV medicine.

Citing the often-referenced fact that 95% of the ocean remains unexplored, Virmani said presently scientist have far better maps of the surface of Mars but they lack in depth information about seafloor.

She said that expenses are counted as one of the major obstacle in seafloor mapping. Therefore, they are encouraging the team in XPrize to explore cost-saving approaches, like launching the device from the shore.

The entire contest titled Shell Discovrey XPrize will include nine months of team registration, 12 months for initial development and 18 months for testing. The winner team will be given a $4 million grand prize and a $1 million second prize. These will be the teams that will demonstrate the highest resolution mapping while also meeting other devices like autonomy and depth.

Another $1 million will be distributed among between every team that makes it to round two as well as $1 million bonus prize from the NOAA for technology that can ‘sniff out’ a specific object.