Question What alarms do you want on your dive computer?

[Manatee Diver]

Shearwater Perdix, Petrel, Nerd doesn’t have the audible nor haptic alarms but it does have a superb user interface design. Amber = hmmm. Inverted red = imminent danger. Clear and consistent.

You also have green for good when you clear deco. Which on a normal dive are the only two alarms I want to see. Blue going into deco, and green exiting deco.

 

[Wibble]

You also have green for good when you clear deco. Which on a normal dive are the only two alarms I want to see. Blue going into deco, and green exiting deco.

Also the "deco clear" information message is different to other information, so visible at a glance.

Much of their user interface design is so obvious when pointed out, but so consistent it simply works. Also very accessible.

Examples: good is white text. Attention is amber text, something is a bit high or low but not life threatening. Urgent alarm is flashing inverted text which is completely different from anything else. It’s visible without the colour (red) and utterly draws your eye to the condition, E.g. high PPO2. If it continues for a while the bottom row is replaced with a red or amber description and you have to clear it by clicking on the button.

 

[Esprise Me]

I'm not surprised that some can't hear the high-pitched alarms, but I am surprised that people can't feel the vibrations. For me it's really noticeable, even through a drysuit. Maybe some computers don't shake as hard.

 

[Cio]

I'm not surprised that some can't hear the high-pitched alarms, but I am surprised that people can't feel the vibrations. For me it's really noticeable, even through a drysuit. Maybe some computers don't shake as hard.

I have hearing damage, can't hear the alarms at all. I have heard people complaining about them so I always turn them off on my computers. I have left them on for a period of time on a new computer on and never felt anything ( I haven't owned many tho)

 

[Belzelbub]

Also the "deco clear" information message is different to other information, so visible at a glance.

Much of their user interface design is so obvious when pointed out, but so consistent it simply works. Also very accessible.

Examples: good is white text. Attention is amber text, something is a bit high or low but not life threatening. Urgent alarm is flashing inverted text which is completely different from anything else.

Yep. While it doesn't pertain to me, when I read the manual, I found it interesting that the approach to the visual alarms also works for people who are color-blind. I can see the yellows and reds just fine in the warnings and critical alerts, but the flashing inverted text also enables colorblind users to understand. Normal text is just normal, whatever color it appears. Warning is inverted, text is black on a background. Critical alerts flash and alternate between colored text on black backgound to black text on colored background.

I was surprised to see this. Really goes to show how deliberate everything was, and how much they tried to make it work for anyone.

 

[Wibble]

Yep. While it doesn't pertain to me, when I read the manual, I found it interesting that the approach to the visual alarms also works for people who are color-blind. I can see the yellows and reds just fine in the warnings and critical alerts, but the flashing inverted text also enables colorblind users to understand. Normal text is just normal, whatever color it appears. Warning is inverted, text is black on a background. Critical alerts flash and alternate between colored text on black backgound to black text on colored background.

I was surprised to see this. Really goes to show how deliberate everything was, and how much they tried to make it work for anyone.

User Interface (UI) design. When done well nobody ever notices. When done badly... Windows 8 anyone?

 

[Hojo in SC]

My back mount computer (integrated) is so faint that I can't hear it, and when I went sidemount I needed a wrist mounted computer and it was important to me to be able to feel the alarm, which my Shearwater has and I love it.

 

[scubadada]

I turned on the haptic alarm on my Teric, will give it a try next week

 

[Bigbella]

Visual warnings, only.

All audible alarms have been disabled.

Sadly, gone are the days when you could peacefully and quietly dive, without hearing the sundry alarms and various other electronic crap, of other divers . . .

 

[Wibble]

Visual warnings, only.

All audible alarms have been disabled.

Sadly, gone are the days when you could peacefully and quietly dive, without hearing the sundry alarms and various other electronic crap, of other divers . . .

Solo. Nice. Quiet. Go at your own pace.