Innovation In Recreational Scuba Diving?

[Dr. Lecter]

Dive scooters have also changed things a lot for some types of diving. Even the scooter saddle which is maybe 12 years old? was a pretty big change.

+1 I'm convinced the only reason DPVs haven't changed things enormously for most types of diving is the relatively extreme price-point for the real ones. Whether I'm freediving, single tank rec diving, or on a long/deep CCR dive, nothing else I use has been so useful or so much damn fun.

 

[Akimbo]

I thought the auto inflator for the BC (was a horse collar at the time) was a great help. Previously you had to remove reg..blow into BC..return reg...repeat..NOT very feasible in an emergency or under stress. SPG of course eliminated the dangerous J valve wire pull-down BS reserve system.,.

All of the horse collar emergency inflation devices I am aware of that came with an OPV (Over Pressure Valve) also had a small HP bottle to inflate the bladder in addition to an oral inflator. They all copied the original Bouée Fenzy, which was not intended as a Buoyancy Compensator. It was intended for buoyancy in an emergency at depth.

Don’t confuse the Mae West style horse collars used before that, which were basically inflatable life preservers for surface use only. The attached image is of me in the early 1960s using one in Carmel Bay. Notice that “Navy Safety Vest” is stenciled on it. A lot of gear was war surplus or made for dual markets. These only had an oral inflator and a CO2 cartridge. No OPV so orally inflating it at depth would cause it to blow up near the surface and the mechanism that punctured the CO2 cartridge corroded like crazy, obviously not designed for repeated submersion in salt water.

A lot of people think that the lever-reserve J-valve was widely used… not true. A significant majority of the valves used outside the Navy were K-valves.

 

[jdg]

So, in my post-DEMA mindset I'm also thinking about the rate and impact of innovation in scuba diving industry.

What do folks consider as an innovation timeline for scuba? For argument's sake, let's start with 1943 and the birth of the "modern scuba unit" (demand-valve diving regulator + tank of compressed breathing gas)

Where do we go from there?

I'm struggling to come up with anything that has fundamentally changed recreational scuba diving since then... other than the introduction of professional instruction/certification. By "fundamentally" I mean something that has expanded the who, how, where, or when of recreational diving in a meaningful way.

I considered the following, but feel they are more "evolution-vs-revolution" improvements rather than true innovation:

Horsecollar BCD
Personal dive computers
Recreational nitrox

I'm also discounting rebreathers as not yet being a recreational scuba innovation given:
1.) Low penetration rate
2.) High price barrier to broad adoption
3.) It's still really just breathing (and rebreathing) compressed gas underwater from a tank you bring with you.

I'm sure I'm missing something. Look forward to people's thoughts.

You might find me crazy, but what about the simple fact that this (extreme) sport has now become a common day sport enjoyed by many of all ages and ethnic groups. Much like soccer or golf.

When I was young I remember watching in awe as the famous Jacques Cousteau was diving in unexplored places such as Cozumel. 30-40 years later people are jumping on a plane and diving in the very same waters in droves.

 

[dmoore19]

I was going to suggest the dive computer was an innovation. But according to the standards set it isn't since it is nothing more than an electronic adaptation of dive tables. *sigh*

 

[Akimbo]

Unless I missed it, E-learning has not been addressed. It is yet another adapted technology which is very much in its infancy. A lot of knowledge is required to be a really good, safe, and confident diver. All this information can be presented in horribly boring and confusing ways.

I have believed for a long time that E-learning will change the world. It will evolve to include constant and subtle testing disguised as interaction. The human responses will guide the presentation of data in a way that is easiest to digest by the individual student. The stagnant one-size-fits-all model simply won’t be necessary.

The same presentation for a student with a PhD in Physics won’t work for a science and math challenged artist. An English teacher will probably need more time to understand how a regulator works than a HVAC technician. The Physics PhD will probably need a little more time getting a thorough understanding of barotrauma than an emergency room doc. Everyone knows an important key to learning is making it interesting which is the exact opposite of boring and confusing.

Some people are hyper visual and others are highly verbal. The world is filled with different languages and cultures. In time, a computer can be programmed to adjust the presentation. The presentation can be adjust based on the student reply by presenting different examples when answers are wrong and getting on with it when the student appears to have nailed it.

The downside is diver education is a small market and a lot of talented people will have to develop lots of content presented in many different ways. This gets to the heart of how we are wired.

 

[RJP]

The downside is diver education is a small market and a lot of talented people will have to develop lots of content presented in many different ways. This gets to the heart of how we are wired.

The "presented in many different ways" is the easy - and getting easier each day - part. With technology today, you generate the content once in a platform-agnostic way and then simply pull it through in print, video, elearning, an app, powerpoint slides, lecture notes, whatever. When the audience can choose when, where, and how they learn they will learn better... and seek to learn more.

 

[Akimbo]

I was going to suggest the dive computer was an innovation. But according to the standards set it isn't since it is nothing more than an electronic adaptation of dive tables. *sigh*

Don’t forget integration of other instruments including the watch/bottom timer, depth gauge, SPG(s), a compass, heart-rate monitor, and in the case of the Liquivision Lynx locators for divers, the boat, and found objects.

How long before wrist-mounted computers include LED lights akin to when we now have using a Goodman Handle? One day they will monitor O2, CO2, CO, and inert gas bubble formation in the blood and adjust decompression accordingly.

---------- Post added November 27th, 2014 at 01:04 PM ----------

The "presented in many different ways" is the easy - and getting easier each day - part. With technology today, you generate the content once in a platform-agnostic way and then simply pull it through in print, video, elearning, an app, powerpoint slides, lecture notes, whatever...

I don’t think we are actually there today. I have suffered through way too many PowerPoint presentations to believe that. Everything that is done well requires talent, knowledge, and experience to create.

 

[Bob DBF]

We don't need innovation in gear because it needs to be bullet proof when in use. I would rather see innovation in inviting people to become new divers and having them stay with it.



Bob

 

[Akimbo]

We don't need innovation in gear because it needs to be bullet proof when in use...

Simple, rugged, and reliable also require innovation. Just look how much more reliable and rugged lights are now that LEDs and Lithium batteries are used. Lights and many other parts are better today because CNC matching is more accurate and less expensive. They are also better because computer aided design and analysis are so superior to drafting tables and slide rules. Remember how often the old lights flooded, or are you trying to forget?

I’m still waiting for the material science wizards to develop a material that is better than Titanium at the cost of injection molded ABS. Then we can have sets of 10,000 PSI doubles that are just bumps on our Freedom Plates!

 

[RJP]

I don’t think we are actually there today. I have suffered through way too many PowerPoint presentations to believe that. Everything that is done well requires talent, knowledge, and experience to create.

That's why I said that with today's technology "YOU" could create effective learning. I didn't mean that just ANYONE could do it.

:d

---------- Post added November 27th, 2014 at 06:27 PM ----------

We don't need innovation in gear because it needs to be bullet proof when in use. I would rather see innovation in inviting people to become new divers and having them stay with it.



Bob

Sounds like a job for...

AD MAN!