The $1.5 million ultra minimalist SeaPod home is so high-tech you can summon a pizza delivering drone from your wearable smart ring. Unfortunately, a prototype of this luxury floating home had a massive fail.
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Yes, it’s hard to top this sort of embarrassment for Ocean Builders, a Panama-based technology company. Especially when Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo even showed up to witness the unveiling. The structure did not submerge or crash, as was incorrectly reported in prior reports.
Related: SeaPods create an exciting way to waterfront living
The prototype SeaPod endured a bilge pump malfunction without having a backup system, affecting the balance of a lower steel spar. This malfunction caused the flooding of the spars and made the SeaPod unstable. The Ocean Builders team resolved the situation and the Pod is operating again. Once they fix that flaw, it looks like a pretty nice place to live, if you like the sea. A lot.
The new floating home SeaPod has 830 square feet of living space spread over three levels. You get all the normal stuff (bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room and storage place) and an ocean view that can’t be beat.
Dutch architect Koen Olthuis designed these units that look a lot like futuristic spaceships. They’re very round, plain and white. If you’re a fan of old Victorians, this isn’t the house for you. Air-filled tubes keep the pods floating about seven and a half feet above waves. The under-structure is designed to be appealing to sea life who to take up residence and form their own little marine ecosystem.
“Our technology will allow civilization to move onto the sea and it will unlock the ocean as a new frontier with a quality of life that is unbeatable anywhere else,” according to Ocean Builders.
The recent prototype unveiling September 22 at Linton Bay Marina in Panama was short-lived before it destabilized and went down. Uh, with people inside. Apparently they could swim, because nobody was injured.
“Like all innovation and new technology, there is a likelihood of trial and error, and that provides an opportunity to learn, improve and continue to innovate on ocean technology,” a company spokesperson said after the unfortunate incident.
It will probably be a little while before SeaPods hit the market, but the planned asking price ranges from $295,000 to $1.5 million.
Lead image via Ocean Builders
