Dive computers of the future?

[tarponchik]

- inertial navigation stuff (i am highly skeptical it can be made to work in real world conditions)
- buddy locator stuff (but not really useful since I can see her right there)

The 1st one can be interesting but I am as skeptical as you are; the 2nd one

Ratio computers have a built-in magnetometer. They have a built-in GPS, too, I think.

Having a compass built in is new to computers, even though compasses themselves are not new.

Some computers that at least have been on the market have/had a buddy/boat locator feature.

Why did it take so long to build in a compass? I have a 10-year old Casio watch with digital compass in it.

 

[KeithG]

When did digital cameras take over. They may do an old function but they create many new capabilities.

Excellent point (even though this is the dive computer thread and not the camera thread, but I am happy to play along!) as digital cameras have added some ground breaking new functions.

Digital cameras have provided several new functions over film cameras:
- essentially unlimited # of photos per dive - 36? wtf?
- instant review of my last picture
- not much else?

These first 2 functions are huge game changers.

I no longer have to ration out my 36 shots over my 90 minute dive. I can take as many pictures as I want as fast as I want. 50 pics in the first 2 minutes is no problem, I have lots of card space left and am not racking up film development fees. Having a roll of 1000+ exposures in the camera does change how I approach shots. Exposures are now essentially free.

But even more useful is the instant feedback on my technique. Take a picture. Look at the results instantly underwater. Adapt and take some more pictures.

 

[drrich2]

The digital 'landscape' goes beyond the camera; the Internet has become a universal medium for free, instant sharing of photos with large numbers of people abroad (e.g.: posting a shot on Scuba Board). The way people share & view photos has changed drastically over a film/print-based system. And people can 'dark room' their shots in software, if so inclined, way more easily.

If you want to see similar transformation in the dive computer landscape, we may need to likewise look farther beyond the dive computer itself. Right now, the option to post dive profiles on Facebook sounds like a vanity gimmick for the young. What happens when it's easily done wirelessly and a class instructor can download his class's profiles to a computer and pop them up one by one for review? Shearwater's new cloud offering is interesting; it's my understanding it might let you change dive computer settings on a phone or computer, rather than having to do it on the DC interface. That could open up a world of fine tuning and detail that's not practical with a wrist unit DC.

Speaking of gimmicks, whether it's a DC or other device, imagine if you could put a sensor on your neck, and one on your waist, and the gadget would tell you if you're in good horizontal trim or not? People have posted before that it can be hard to tell without reviewing video of yourself after a dive. What if a gadget could tell you in real time whether you're in trim? Don't know if a DC could be designed to add that feature, but it'd be nice.

A good distance boat locator to ease navigation would be sweet.

Richard.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Why did it take so long to build in a compass? ...

So funny.

IMHO, the best answer was given in the eighteen hundreds:
Ellen Glasgow Quotes (Author of In This Our Life)

-third quote down...

 

[KeithG]

The digital 'landscape' goes beyond the camera; the Internet has become a universal medium for free, instant sharing of photos with large numbers of people abroad (e.g.: posting a shot on Scuba Board). The way people share & view photos has changed drastically over a film/print-based system. And people can 'dark room' their shots in software, if so inclined, way more easily.

If you want to see similar transformation in the dive computer landscape, we may need to likewise look farther beyond the dive computer itself. Right now, the option to post dive profiles on Facebook sounds like a vanity gimmick for the young. What happens when it's easily done wirelessly and a class instructor can download his class's profiles to a computer and pop them up one by one for review? Shearwater's new cloud offering is interesting; it's my understanding it might let you change dive computer settings on a phone or computer, rather than having to do it on the DC interface. That could open up a world of fine tuning and detail that's not practical with a wrist unit DC.

Speaking of gimmicks, whether it's a DC or other device, imagine if you could put a sensor on your neck, and one on your waist, and the gadget would tell you if you're in good horizontal trim or not? People have posted before that it can be hard to tell without reviewing video of yourself after a dive. What if a gadget could tell you in real time whether you're in trim? Don't know if a DC could be designed to add that feature, but it'd be nice.

A good distance boat locator to ease navigation would be sweet.

Richard.

I agree about the interweb changing things (I continue to make my living from it). But it has very little to do with dive computers. I am happy to ramble on until someone reports me...

Sensor technology is a very different world. Sensors have come a long way in the last 20 years, But improved sensors have not altered our ability to utilize them. Sensors are just smaller, cheaper and use less power. We are not much smarter. Our ability to utilize them has not kept pace. We are just as stupid as we have always been. Well, most of us.

Years ago I was working on an innovative use of sensor technology (several patents were created). Within a few months we stepped back and declared failure due to environmental conditions. WTF? Wind! Damn you mother nature!

Our objective was to weigh garbage bins as they were being dumped into a garbage truck. This worked fine on a commercial level with Front End Loader working with huge bins. Residential proved a nut too hard to crack. Field tests proved that random gusts of wind put enough force on the garbage bin to prevent a "weights & measures" accuracy reading.

Note that we solved the "weigh in motion" problem in a laboratory situation. We developed a system that could weigh the contents of a bin while it was actively being dumped into the truck. But mother nature (and the real world) beat us.

 

[Steve_C]

imagine if you could put a sensor on your neck, and one on your waist, and the gadget would tell you if you're in good horizontal trim or not? People have posted before that it can be hard to tell without reviewing video of yourself after a dive. What if a gadget could tell you in real time whether you're in trim?

I would have it removed. I go underwater to not have people and things looking over my shoulder.

Plus Horizontal trim is dull. Its use in my opinion is for moving horizontal. I am often not horizontal. Frequently during a dive in the ocean I will tilt up and look around above me. See a lot of neat stuff passing by. Much easier on the neck than staying horizontal. Also I often want to look under things. Much easier to see, and also easier on coral, etc., if I tilt down. If I am horizontal for most of my dive it was likely a dull dive. Spending a whole dive trying to stay perfectly horizontal strikes me as the waste of a good dive.

 

[tridacna]

Steve-the sensors don't put you in horizontal trim; they provide fb about your position in the water. You're free to dive in any position.

 

[Steve_C]

Steve-the sensors don't put you in horizontal trim; they provide fb about your position in the water. You're free to dive in any position.

the gadget would tell you if you're in good horizontal trim or not?

Unless shut off or removed it would still be bothering me like a pesky true believer.

 

[dmaziuk]

Digital cameras have provided several new functions over film cameras:
- essentially unlimited # of photos per dive - 36? wtf?
- instant review of my last picture
- not much else?

These first 2 functions are huge game changers.

Adjust white balance much?

 

[dmaziuk]

Why did it take so long to build in a compass? I have a 10-year old Casio watch with digital compass in it.

: paranoid: Now why would Suunto sell a $300 Zoop with compass when they can sell a $300 Zoop and a $100 SK7?