igills new iphone case

[RonR]

Software testing for embedded purpose built devices tends to be better as well - a system I wrote the firmware for was required to demonstrably operate correctly across 10k input sequences. That's a bit more stringent than any of the desktop or cell phone projects I've worked on. Not saying the app hasn't been tested that thoroughly, just saying that I haven't seen that level of testing. An algorithm such as ZHL-16C isn't that hard to code - heck, you can implement it in an hour or so if you know what you're doing, but validating function in a multi-tasking environment such as an iPhone is bigger than just the algorithm.

I was going to sit this out, having already commented on another iPhone in a box solution several months ago. But I have to second your comments above.

There is a world of difference between embedded development and desktop/ smartphone development. Algorithms, while not completely trivial, are fairly straightforward. The difficult part of a dive computer is handling correctly, in real time, all the potential things a diver could do, expected and unexpected. Dealing with all these multiple inputs, while correctly handling all the data, displaying what needs to be displayed, and prioritizing tasks appropriately is something that takes far more effort than simply developing an app that will do decompression calculations based on sensor inputs. It's far more complex than it seems on the surface (sorry), and unless you have actually been through the process of building the firmware for such a device it would be very easy to underestimate the task.

As to the overall concept, your point about taking the phone in and out of the case is a good one. You also have two computers- essentially a display-free computer taking the sensor inputs and processing them so they can be communicated with the phone, and the iPhone providing display and processing power as well as some peripherals. The communication between the two devices needs to be pretty much flawless. The Rube Goldberg factor starts getting pretty high, and my engineering spidey-sense starts tingling. There is a point of diminishing returns at which a dedicated hardware design starts looking like a better overall solution.

On the positive side, there is no inherent reason this couldn't work, given the right quality of design effort, and there are plenty of old iPhones in the world that could be recycled into alternate functions like this so the prize device isn't placed at risk. It's clearly aimed at a casual recreational market, and like most multi-purpose devices, it's bound to compromise on some functions compared with dedicated devices. I don't think it is the optimum solution for a dive computer, but as a device for logging dives with GPS tagging and divelog inputs, it could be great.

Ron

 

[Hatul]

I'm skeptical also of using the iPhone for a dive computer, but it may be perfect for GPS navigation if the box could send a thin cable with an antenna to the surface, the iPhone could display your course just like the MapMyHike, except it would be MapMyDive.

 

[ctxyl]

hello there. i've been a "silent" user of this forum for quite a time, but for this thread i had to register, trying to stop the fortune telling a bit. i have igills and "tested" it the last two weeks on vacation.

first of all, sorry for my bad english, i'm from germany so i hope you can understand me a bit.

second is, some of you may will laugh a bit, the iphone's dead.

first 4 dives and uncountable snorkeling sessions it was really nice, did what it was to build for, made nice videos, etc. worked really well, i was excited.
on the 5th dive something happend that i can't tell you better than quoting Atticus

If the chance of having a piece of fluff or hair on the O-ring during assembly is 1% and you do 50 dives/year ... well you get the idea.

true, but not only while assembling, even while diving. on that day the water was very troubled: sourrounded by sand, fish poo and other stuff some of it came into the little gap between front and back, in direct touch to the o-ring. to make a long story short: the case needn't to be flooded completely to get a 4s down. even just a little like 1ml is needed.

so i cant recommend to use this, even if one will be more lucky than me.

IMHO there are two crucial points:

- the only insurance between dry and not is one o-ring (and grease) between back and front of the case
- there is no emergency shutdown button

so my phone is on the way to apple now, a new one is coming, 200 bucks gone. i am a bit sad, not mainly because of the money, but i would indeed have been a very nice gadget. where else you get a full hd underwater camcorder for that amount of money?

the idea is nice, but the iphone is much too vulnerable for fluids. maybe a version for Motorola Defy or similar will make much more sense.

cheers

 

[ScubaERDoc]

The iPhone 5 is coming out in a month or two. This will make my current iPhone 4 obsolete, and as my contract has expired, I am going to happily have both a new 5 and an old 4 which will be almost disposable. It may make sense to use this old 4 for the new igills case just to see...

 

[manni-yunk]

I think this is more of a gimmick and will never take off, but - I have to agree with Firebird. People comment on here and havent even read a data sheet or ad for the product......

 

[Jw9673]

CTXYL, are you interested in selling your iGills? I really want to do some testing with one and an old phone.

 

[Guzzi54]

I have been diving in Cozumel for two weeks with an iGills and an iPhone4. The dive computer is slightly less conservative than my Suunto Viper but way easier to see and track. It tracks bottom time, saturation, depth, temperature, safety stop count down, surface interval, gas mixture (nitrox) fly time, ascent rate and more. It allows use of both cameras and you still track dive info in either camera mode. When you are done you have a completed graphed dive for every 2 minutes under water which is stored in your phone or on your computer using a snapshot of your dive graph. besides displaying the graph it calculates average depth and max dept. The compass is accurate and the flashlight works okay.

Battery life as a dive computer is over 3 hours but shooting both still and video I get just over two hours. It uses next to no battery in surface mode.

I would like a colour filter package for it. Tried to make my own without great success. Might have more luck when I am back in Canada with more supplies.

The camera and video screen size is very nice

It runs in airplane mode while under water to stop battery wastage looking for cell service which doesn't exist in water. It tracks location by GPS.

With each dive log your picture and videos are catalogued and available to view as well as download to your computer. I have some iGills unfiltered video up on my channel at theguz54

I think it is a brilliant piece of work and there are ones coming for iPod touches and the iPhone5. I can't wait for the iPad version. Now THAST would be a great viewer screen.

This a super unit for snapshot underwater work. It would be nicer with a iPhone 4s with better video and picture quality than the 4

 

[Bwana_don]

Interesting thread, surprised by the number of nay-sayers. I see this as normal innovation. Ho many years ago was it that people did not trust dive computers and only trusted charts and analog devices. I think there are some issues that need to be worked out, specifically an idot proof sealing system or a way to keep the compartment pressurized so it cannot flood. Prevent software crashes is a big one as well, but the potential is really pretty interesting to me.

As scuba divers I expect us to be more adventurous helping push the limits of technology to help make the sport easier and safer for all. I am certainly not advocating unreasonable risk, and I routinely use the penguin theory. For this one, I am more than glad to let someone else go first and risk their phones. The bugs will probably get worked out over the next 10 years.

I still use a 20 year old US Divers Monitor 2 computer as a backup to my Suunto Cobra 3. 10 years from now, what will my cobra 3 be backing up?

I would like to see folks offer suggestions on how to help overcome the deficiencies. I believe in the long run it will be in our best interest.

Even better wouldn't it be great if the vendor reached out to a group like this for some out of the box thinking. Better still they offer incentives for ideas they used.

Now that would be an interesting thread.

 

[Hatul]

On second thought it's a nice idea now that it's out. Now I'd like to see more reviews of it from people who've used it.

 

[Devron]

I just returned from a dive trip to Saba Island. Before leaving for my trip I purchased the new iGills iPhone case. As many of you, I was skeptical of this new case and worried about flooding my precious iPhone. But, I figured it was worth the risk as I can now purchase a new iPhone 4s for about $99.00. This along with the iGills case is an investment of only $428.00, much less than a low quality underwater camera. After loading my iPhone in the iGills case I entered the water for my first dive. Upon decending aprox 5ft. the computer kicked on and the fun started. The computer in the iGills case worked perfectly. The depth and water temp. matched my main computer exactly. In fact after the first dive, I only looked at my other computer for tank pressure. The camera and video function are amazing, the pictures are as good as any camera I have seen. The only thing that would make the pictures perfect would be the use of video lights. But, the pictures and video are crisp and clear in 1080P. It logged every dive (8 total), with perfect info. After setting foot back on the dive boat and inspecting the pictures and video, I was hooked as well as everyone on the dive boat, including the dive masters. They all said they would be purchasing this case in the near future. This will diffently be staying in my dive bag and be used on every dive trip. And, when I returned home and played the video and pictures on my home threater screen (100" x 58"), it was amazing 1080p all the way! What a great way to remember an amazing trip!