Over the last decade, HUDs (or “heads up displays”) and augmented reality have increasingly permeated the world of high-end supercars, though this trend has yet to catch on in the equally elite superyacht realm. This, however, is now changing, as Dutch shipbuilders, Feadship has just unveiled its Pure Concept, a 268.2′ Gigayacht with an AR-style wheelhouse.
Making its public debut last week at the 2021 Monaco Yacht Show, the Pure Concept marks the latest project from Feadship that aims to offer a glimpse into the future of yachting, coming on the heels of a number of noteworthy concept vessels since the turn of the millennium including the world’s first hybrid-powered superyacht. Renowned for its custom-designed boats, Feadship’s latest envelope-pushing concept takes inspiration from military vessels which don’t offer a direct line of sight to the water and instead rely on a host of advanced electronics — in the case of the Pure, this means jettisoning the traditional setup for a suite of GPS, radar, depth sounders, AIS, maps, and a plethora of cameras and sensors that all relay information to the captain through a state-of-the-art augmented reality display. Because the Pure Concept’s pilothouse doesn’t need to be located high up in the bridge, its designers have managed to place its control center on the ship’s lower deck, streamlining its shape and allowing for a sleeker, lower-profile silhouette. In addition to boasting a retractable glass-bottomed jacuzzi and a massive aft deck beach club with a trio of fold-down walls, another noteworthy highlight on the Gigayacht is its future-proofed hybrid propulsion system that plans on utilizing the most cutting-edge powertrain types as they evolve over time, first employing a diesel-electric setup, before the vessel will switch to a hydrogen cell system within the next half-decade, and then finally a methanol fuel cell powertrain by roughly 2030 until eventually adopting whatever the latest system is in the mid-2030s.
While Feadship has yet to reveal any plans for putting the ship into production, there’s a decent chance that some of its more novel technology and features will likely begin appearing on superyachts in the coming years.
