Boat builders have centuries of design rules that they go by when they build new boats but what happens if someone decides to build a boat without paying any attention to those rules?
Well if you are a well known Bay Area engineer by the name of Ugo Conti you design the Proteus, which takes its design inspiration from water insects instead of the set rules of boat design. As a result you end up with a totally new class of boat that is incredibly fuel efficient, material efficient and apparently doesn’t make you seasick.
Interest in the Proteus is already building with everyone from the Navy to science institutes taking a serious look at this evolution in boat design. Besides the obvious fuel efficiency being a driving force behind the interest there is also the fact that the hull design is a modular one which means that rather than having to build specific needs version of the Proteus you only need to design the swappable hull module that fits your needs.
To really get an idea of what the Proteus is about here is a short documentary courtesy of KQED
[picture courtesy of KQED Flickr Stream ]
