New Diver Technologies are Slow to Evolve

[Teamcasa]

In another thread, John Chatterton brought up a good point. Diving related new technologies and innovations are painfully slow. If you think about it, the basic tank and regulator system have had very little improvement and with the exception of dive computers and rebreathers, we are still diving like we were in the Sea Hunt era. Where are the (affordable) diver communication systems, underwater navigation and personal mini submarines that we were promised in 1969!

Is it that the market is too small to warrant major investments in new technologies? Maybe it is liability insurance issues? In any event, I would have thought diving would have made greater strides in technology by now.

And by the way, didn’t they also promise us flying cars by now as well!

 

[Kingmob3]

The technology's there, the market is unwilling to buy it at the current price, hence why we don't have our own Subs and underwater comms. It has all been developed, usually for other things, but finding an application for scuba that does not already exist, and doing it SAFER and CHEAPER is whats keeping design the same. Navigations another story, take a look at the guy who did the storm box for his satnav.

Allen

 

[1_T_Submariner]

A lot of people don;t like change (me included). Take the Auto industry most have now accepted inovations like Electric start, Seat belts, Heat, Air conditioning, Internal combustion engine, gauges, etc... Sometimes it just takes time for the new fangled contraptions to catch on.

 

[tc]

Be interesting to hear from some manufacturers on this but I suspect liability concerns may play a major role in the release of new items too.

 

[nereas]

Helium dive computers are the latest current advancement that I can think of. There are also higher high-pressure tanks available in Europe. And new light weight DPVs available in the USA. Weight plates attached to backplates are also a fairly new innovation within the past couple of years. Streamlined wings are now more commonplace, with Halcyon, DSS, and Oxycheq producing many more of these. And most lights have now become HID and lithium-ion powered.

CCRs also seem to continue to make progress towards a reliable, safe product, although occasionally there is still an unexplained malfunction in these and then somebody dies.

Someday when all the helium is gone (currently being sucked up by MRI machines), we will all be diving with neon mixes instead. By then, CCRs will become a financial necessity, since neon is extremely expensive, although fortunately inexhastible.

30 years ago, scuba diving was done in horse-collars, without SPGs, with crude depth gauges, and exclusively with air alone. I remember certifying back in those days. Back then, you used your watch, and guessed at the psi left in your tank(s) based on dive time elapsed and approximate depth. It was the knots on your down-line that told you your exact depth, or the fathoms marked on your marine chart.

To me that sounds like a fair amount of modern innovation in the meantime. With ScubaPro regs onto 130 cu ft steel doubles, V-Planner software together with a helium dive computer and backup, X-Scooter DPV, HID LIon light, and warm inside of a D/C shell drysuit on argon, you are quite modern. And some feel that a CCR makes you even ultra-modern.

I guess beauty is always partly in the eyes of the beholder.

It is true that closed circuit or open circuit designs have been around for a long time, but the equipment is vastly more reliable now and performs better.

 

[Mo2vation]

In another thread, John Chatterton brought up a good point. Diving related new technologies and innovations are painfully slow. If you think about it, the basic tank and regulator system have had very little improvement and with the exception of dive computers and rebreathers, we are still diving like we were in the Sea Hunt era. Where are the (affordable) diver communication systems, underwater navigation and personal mini submarines that we were promised in 1969!

Is it that the market is too small to warrant major investments in new technologies? Maybe it is liability insurance issues? In any event, I would have thought diving would have made greater strides in technology by now.

And by the way, didn’t they also promise us flying cars by now as well!

I'm not sure the technologies are painfully slow. From everything I can read, diving equipment is safer, cheaper and more sturdy than ever.

New materials are being incorporated. Gear is lighter, glass is clearer, colors fade slower, zippers are stronger. Batteries are smaller and lighter, lights are brighter, bulbs last longer.

Look at Underwater photography and the huge changes there in just the last three years.

What specifically is Johnny talking about? Underwater comm? Please. For the casual diver it just means you use more gas. Underwater nav? There are several pinging tools people with no compass skills can instantly manage and master.

Also - you are dealing with a hostile environment where most people aren't completely comfortable and even fewer can competently manage. What are the technologies that are slow to arrive, specifically?

I'm blown away how far the gear I use has come in the last 8 years. Just floored.

---
Ken

 

[Teamcasa]

Just a few things that would be cool to have.
High pressure compressors that are small, quite and lightweight capable of 6000psi on a standard 110v circuit.
Obviously we could use higher pressure, light weight tanks.
Lightweight, flexible wetsuits that maintained consistent buoyancy and insulation value at all depths.
Lights that produced sun like power without carrying around a 10lb battery canister, for less than $500.
And a few more items people smarter than me will no doubt think of.

 

[nereas]

"For less than $500..."

Therein lies the rub!

 

[Matt S.]

I think it only doesn't feel like there is innovation because the basic technique of strapping on a tank and jumping in hasn't changed. Every part of the rig has improved, but except for RBs the rig itself works the same way.

Technology in guns moves very slowly too. Well, it's like scuba. New materials, better electronics, sure. But making a better gun seems to be a lot like making a better scuba rig... Without vastly increasing the price, what could you really change for the better in the fundamental design? Even if you had carte blanche to design and build whatever you could imagine within current tech... would it be vastly better than what we had now?

Like Dave said just above, the innovations will be in improving the existing gadgets that we rely on.

 

[Gary D.]

The tide may have changed had money been spent on some type of sea projects instead of sending it into space. The bulk of world interest is in going out into the unknown to see what’s out there and possibly see why we’re here. Unfortunately the minority of interest, US, would rather go into the unknown and figure out our own planet first.

But then there is a catch 22. NASA is responsible for a lot of the products and equipment we use diving today. So without them we may not be as advanced as we are. But as long as we let them do the spending, in our eyes we move forward very slowly.

There have been a lot of changes over the years. Those who don’t think so need take a look back into time. It hasn’t been all that long ago when Neoprene was no where near as comfortable as it is today. One of the biggest advancements after the suits were invented was Panty Hose. It was almost impossible to get into a proper fitting custom made ¼” Farmer John/Jane suit because they were very stiff and unlined.

Thanks to NASA we have a water proof dry suit zipper. Materials have changed from 99% of the hard gear being metal to almost all of it being some sort of plastic. I remember an incident way back when a guy got his tongue stuck on Aquamaster housing during a cold weather dive. I must have laughed for a week.

Early computers were almost the size of a lunch box and very unreliable leaving only the NAVY dive tables that would bend the average diver today.

There are many more changes but in the early years, divers were not gear dependant as they are today. The BC has only been around a short time and now it’s “Life Support” equipment. I don’t think a lot of the gear out there considered “Life Support” is at all. It should fall into the category of “Luxury Items” instead.

The basic automobile had 4 wheels in the early years. It still has 4 today even though the style, comfort, reliability and performance has improved. Hummm, sounds like dive equipment, doesn’t it.

Gary D.