Abysner: NEW Deco Planning Software/App

[DiveVenture]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This thread is a carve out from
Deco Planning Software/App

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So I was not ready yet to share this with everyone on ScubaBoard yet, mostly because well the European mind cannot comprehend "Freedom Units" , anyhow... I just released a completely new decompression planner for both Android & iOS named: Abysner. I was extremely fed up with V-Planner and MultiDeco etc., because well simply put the UI is horrific, and the pricing extreme (these are opinions). So I decided to create something myself, with a better and friendlier UI and UX, but also cheaper, free (not gratis) and most importantly open-source. I also wanted this planner to be quick and simple, yet allow for some customization.

Like mentioned, no support for PSI/Feet and no CCR yet. However if you like metric this will get you pretty far on OC, and I'm not asking much for it's official releases on the App Store and Play Store, just 99 cent. Believe me the time spent on this is something I will probably never get back.

Android: Google Play
iOS: ‎App Store

Source code: GitHub - NeoTech-Software/Abysner

Since I'm probably not allowed to advertise here on the forum? I'm willing to share some redeemable codes so you can get it for free. However, since it is opensource you could also compile your own copy if you are a bit techsavy.

 

[Mobulai]

So I was not ready yet to share this with everyone on ScubaBoard yet, mostly because well the European mind cannot comprehend "Freedom Units" , anyhow... I just released a completely new decompression planner for both Android & iOS named: Abysner. I was extremely fed up with V-Planner and MultiDeco etc., because well simply put the UI is horrific, and the pricing extreme (these are opinions). So I decided to create something myself, with a better and friendlier UI and UX, but also cheaper, free (not gratis) and most importantly open-source. I also wanted this planner to be quick and simple, yet allow for some customization.

Like mentioned, no support for PSI/Feet and no CCR yet. However if you like metric this will get you pretty far on OC, and I'm not asking much for it's official releases on the App Store and Play Store, just 99 cent. Believe me the time spent on this is something I will probably never get back.

Android: Google Play
iOS: ‎App Store

Source code: GitHub - NeoTech-Software/Abysner

Since I'm probably not allowed to advertise here on the forum? I'm willing to share some redeemable codes so you can get it for free. However, since it is opensource you could also compile your own copy if you are a bit techsavy.

Nice work! I definitely like the UI so far

 

[NothingClever]

@DiveVenture

I think you’ve done fantastic work with the Abysner app.

In a spirit of positive support, I had a couple of thoughts.

You might consider using the phrase “loss of gas” rather than “out of air”.

“Out of air” has the connotation of a recreational diver who failed to check his SPG.

“Loss of gas” has the connotation of an equipment failure that a technical diver is (should be) more inclined to properly deal with.

Also, I’m a little puzzled with the pie chart. I see on the right side the progression of gas goes in the sequence of the dive - working gas, deco gas #1 and then deco gas #2. Continuing around the pie chart to the loss of gas portions, I can’t see the sequence pattern you chose. Can you please share some insight in how you’d like divers to understand the pie chart?

 

[stiebs]

@DiveVenture I've had a little play with your app, and it's great for a first public cut! Already more polished than I was expecting. Similar to @NothingClever 's comments though, I think the pie chart leaves a little to be desired. And as a little aside, IMO (qualified through my experience as a data & analytics consultant) pie charts are one of the worst possible graphical representations for most data analysis, and in 9/10 cases that they are used, are a poor choice!.

You are trying to represent too much information in the same pie graph, and its confusing. If you are going to use pie charts, I would suggest that you have one pie to represent each gas. The full circle is the total capacity of gas, and then its divided into 3 wedges - 1) required gas, 2) emergency gas (what you call out-of-gas), and 3) surplus gas.

A column chart may be better to represent insufficient gas. If your required gas plus emergency gas is great than your cylinder capacity, you can't visualise that on a pie chart. On a column chart with a gas capacity horizontal line, it's easy to visualise how much additional gas capacity you need for the plan.

 

[NothingClever]

On a column chart with a gas capacity horizontal line, it's easy to visualise how much additional gas capacity you need for the plan.

@DiveVenture

I enthusiastically concur a column chart with one horizontal line indicating projected volume consumption and another line indicating total volume available (in liters ) would be very useful in helping divers visualize their gas calculations. This would be particularly useful between two divers that dive metric and imperial. The visualization saves the awkward and laborious math calculations.

When I plan, I run various iterations of the depth and time profile with a deco gas toggled off to ensure I have sufficient volume to decompress myself and another diver. I also run it with both deco gases toggled off to ensure I can decompress myself just on backgas in the event of separation from my teammate and loss of both deco gases. That’s a bit of an extreme but not impossible and constitutes prudent gas planning. The column charts with an unobtrusive hash mark for 33% and 66% of total volume would be very helpful during planning.

A column chart may have the added benefit of being easier to display in the limited panes a phone application provides.

To reinforce @stiebs observation, I think you’ve already achieved your objective of creating a smooth UI/UX.

Thank you very much for the hard work you’ve put into this!

 

[DiveVenture]

@NothingClever @stiebs

Thanks both for the feedback, really useful and extremely appreciated. I'm not sure if I should hijack this thread for feedback, if more feedback is required then maybe I should create a special thread for Abysner feedback.

Anyhow I distilled 2 things out of the feedback:

1. “loss of gas” vs “out of air” vs "emergency gas"
This is a very interesting discussion point. What "out of air" means right now in the app is essentially how much gas you would need (for each different mix) to get a panicked diver that lost all gas to the surface. In a real world situation you probably don't lose all gas, but at least this shows you how much you would need from a specific mix in case that mix was lost. This makes some assumptions: 1. The diver has lost all gas, 2. Diver stays in panic mode all the way up, 3. Assumes worst possible point during the dive.

I get why "loss of gas" is more inline with the technical diver, as it kinda points more towards a equipment failure, on the other hand I also like "emergency gas". I'm also considering adding a cool-down setting to the 'panic mode', because a diver may not stay a panicked diver for the rest of the dive.

Let me know what term you think would be best for this.

2. The pie-chart
This is basically a relic from the first proof-of-concept that I made, and it stayed in the app (the order is basically first base gas usage ordered by liters, then emergency gas ordered by usage in liters). I'm very much aware that a pie chart is not the best way to present data, and I'm in favor of changing this to something more useful. I was actually thinking about a horizontal stacked bar chart where each bar represents a cylinder: It would then show the total gas available in the cylinder (based on real gas calculations) as well as the gas required for the dive, and extra gas for an emergency situation. I added a quick spreadsheet mockup.

Maybe instead of a stacked bar chart: it would instead just a bar, with markers on it for 'base' and 'emergency' usage, and in case of too much gas consumption the marker would be outside of the bar (to the right)

 

[Fires]

I vote for requesting a mod carve out your content and posts associated with your content to create a separate thread.

Agreed!

@DiveVenture I just downloaded your app, looks great and I will have a deeper look around

 

[elmo]

@NothingClever @stiebs

Thanks both for the feedback, really useful and extremely appreciated. I'm not sure if I should hijack this thread for feedback, if more feedback is required then maybe I should create a special thread for Abysner feedback.

Anyhow I distilled 2 things out of the feedback:

1. “loss of gas” vs “out of air” vs "emergency gas"
This is a very interesting discussion point. What "out of air" means right now in the app is essentially how much gas you would need (for each different mix) to get a panicked diver that lost all gas to the surface. In a real world situation you probably don't lose all gas, but at least this shows you how much you would need from a specific mix in case that mix was lost. This makes some assumptions: 1. The diver has lost all gas, 2. Diver stays in panic mode all the way up, 3. Assumes worst possible point during the dive.

I get why "loss of gas" is more inline with the technical diver, as it kinda points more towards a equipment failure, on the other hand I also like "emergency gas". I'm also considering adding a cool-down setting to the 'panic mode', because a diver may not stay a panicked diver for the rest of the dive.

Let me know what term you think would be best for this.

2. The pie-chart
This is basically a relic from the first proof-of-concept that I made, and it stayed in the app (the order is basically first base gas usage ordered by liters, then emergency gas ordered by usage in liters). I'm very much aware that a pie chart is not the best way to present data, and I'm in favor of changing this to something more useful. I was actually thinking about a horizontal stacked bar chart where each bar represents a cylinder: It would then show the total gas available in the cylinder (based on real gas calculations) as well as the gas required for the dive, and extra gas for an emergency situation. I added a quick spreadsheet mockup.

Maybe instead of a stacked bar chart: it would instead just a bar, with markers on it for 'base' and 'emergency' usage, and in case of too much gas consumption the marker would be outside of the bar (to the right)

View attachment 867055

I’ve just downloaded your app and in my very quick testing it looks great. I’m not too keen on the pie chart but like stacked bar.
I found I was unable to update cylinder details (I was trying to change the size) once I’d created a plan. Hopefully this is an easy fix for you.
I would suggest a default ascent rate of 9 m/min because that’s what Bühlmann used and many agencies recommend.
A long time ago I was involved in Subsurface development, and it was a bit disappointing nobody (including myself) found a way to port the very powerful desktop planner to the mobile app, and most importantly maintain it. You have largely itched that scratch.
And I second/third the suggestion to split this thread.

 

[ToneNQ]

You might consider using the phrase “loss of gas” rather than “out of air”.

“Out of air” has the connotation of a recreational diver who failed to check his SPG.

“Loss of gas” has the connotation of an equipment failure that a technical diver is (should be) more inclined to properly deal with.

Regarding loss of gas, there is/was already an accepted scenario for this, at least back when I did AN & DP.

Lost gas was a deco scenario. We always did four dive plans. The plan, 5m too deep, 5mins too long, and then lost gas. How long would it take to decompress using back gas if you lost your deco bottles. The app can use anything as long as they're clearly defined, but aligning with common language is better.

That training is one reason I've never been keen to drop my extra bottles during the dive to pick up on the return.