JohnVranesevich
Registered
Greetings All:
Well, being newly not even certified yet (if that's even a classification), I am surprised by two things:
1. How advanced some of the diving equipment really is.
2. How archaic some of the diving equipment really is, hehe.
I spent the last 5 years doing information warfare research for the pentagon (as a civilian). My main focus was on computer security related issues. However, one of the things that many of my colleagues spent a lot of time researching and working on was the idea of "situational awareness" for soldiers. Knowing what your current status is, AND the status of those around you (both friends and foe). We always had some very interesting conversations on the topic.
From someone just getting into diving, the idea of situational awareness is one that really seems lacking. Sure, there are cool dive computers now that let you look at your wrist to find out your depth, pressure, time, etc. But what about your buddy? To really know anything about him, you have to go face to face with him so that he can give you a couple of archaic hand gestures.
Why isn't there integration? My dream dive computer would provide the following:
1. It would let me know my depth, pressure, and all relevant times (how long I've been down, how long I have left, how much air time I have left based on my current consumption rate, etc.)
2. Warn me with a visual and audible signal if something comes up that needs my attention (time almost elapsed, air running low, etc.).
3. Allow me to hit a button and view MY BUDDIE's stats, and provide visual and audible signal if something comes up that needs attention with HIM.
4. Provide a means of text messaging with my buddy, so that we can communicate more in-depth if necessary. I realize that you don't want to be typing out messages in an emergency, as it takes too much time, but certainly there are many situations that arise that being able to communicate in depth a bit more would be useful. Typing short-cuts that do word prediction like many cell-phones use would be handy here as well.
5. Have ALL of this information sent back to the surface and displayed on the dive boat, so that they too would know our current status. The gross lack of situational awareness for those on the support boat is just ridiculous IMHO.
6. Oh, these units should also have locators built in, so that the dive boat knows exactly where their divers are at all times as well. This would take the "search" aspect out of "search and rescue".
Total situational awareness. All of the technology current exists, and has existed for a long time, it just seems like there's nothing out there in the dive industry that has put it all together yet.
I wonder if this is due to economics, or a lack of demand for these features? Am I the only one that thinks that situational awareness would be useful from both a fun and safety perspective while diving?
Perhaps I'm a little on the anal retentive side.....
Well, being newly not even certified yet (if that's even a classification), I am surprised by two things:
1. How advanced some of the diving equipment really is.
2. How archaic some of the diving equipment really is, hehe.
I spent the last 5 years doing information warfare research for the pentagon (as a civilian). My main focus was on computer security related issues. However, one of the things that many of my colleagues spent a lot of time researching and working on was the idea of "situational awareness" for soldiers. Knowing what your current status is, AND the status of those around you (both friends and foe). We always had some very interesting conversations on the topic.
From someone just getting into diving, the idea of situational awareness is one that really seems lacking. Sure, there are cool dive computers now that let you look at your wrist to find out your depth, pressure, time, etc. But what about your buddy? To really know anything about him, you have to go face to face with him so that he can give you a couple of archaic hand gestures.
Why isn't there integration? My dream dive computer would provide the following:
1. It would let me know my depth, pressure, and all relevant times (how long I've been down, how long I have left, how much air time I have left based on my current consumption rate, etc.)
2. Warn me with a visual and audible signal if something comes up that needs my attention (time almost elapsed, air running low, etc.).
3. Allow me to hit a button and view MY BUDDIE's stats, and provide visual and audible signal if something comes up that needs attention with HIM.
4. Provide a means of text messaging with my buddy, so that we can communicate more in-depth if necessary. I realize that you don't want to be typing out messages in an emergency, as it takes too much time, but certainly there are many situations that arise that being able to communicate in depth a bit more would be useful. Typing short-cuts that do word prediction like many cell-phones use would be handy here as well.
5. Have ALL of this information sent back to the surface and displayed on the dive boat, so that they too would know our current status. The gross lack of situational awareness for those on the support boat is just ridiculous IMHO.
6. Oh, these units should also have locators built in, so that the dive boat knows exactly where their divers are at all times as well. This would take the "search" aspect out of "search and rescue".
Total situational awareness. All of the technology current exists, and has existed for a long time, it just seems like there's nothing out there in the dive industry that has put it all together yet.
I wonder if this is due to economics, or a lack of demand for these features? Am I the only one that thinks that situational awareness would be useful from both a fun and safety perspective while diving?
Perhaps I'm a little on the anal retentive side.....