Underwater technology has long been pioneered in order to develop ways to explore and ultimately utilise the resources that are found on or below the sea-bed. Helmet and corselet or hard hat diving was first introduced to the pearling industry in the 1860s and since then, Western Australia has been at the forefront of subsea technological innovation and creating progressive diving technology.

This has led to the advent of professional diving, which includes fish farming, abolone and pearl diving, scientific diving, commercial construction, offshore oil and gas diving and recreational diving instruction. The technologies and skill sets developed can be utilised in other industries as well as for specific scientific endeavours from the searching for historically significant shipwrecks such as HMAS Sydney, investigating the flora and fauna of the world's oceans, to finding a renewable source of energy offshore.

TUCF Hard Suit

Image copyright of The Underwater Centre Fremantle

The Immerse exhibition showcases the different components of the advancements in diving technology, from the earliest adaptations of diving dress; to developing an understanding of the effects of diving on the human body, the principles of depth and the science behind decompression illness; and finally to the zenith of contemporary commercial diving equipment - the Atmospheric Diving Suit.

On display are a multitude of artefacts to present the progression of diving technology.