NEW Freediving Device

My name is Victor and I have a great interest in Freediving. I am in Product Design at OCAD University in Toronto Canada. I have a project to design a device to record and help an athlete’s performance in any given sport. I decided to go with Freediving because I’ve always wanted to try it and didn’t know where to start.




I want to create a product that can help beginner to intermediate Freedivers track their capabilities and to gradually push their limits further. As far as I know, currently there are no affordable devices that can be worn during a training session to track the individual’s capacity. Using an Oximeter and heart rate monitor the device records progress and will alert the trainer (supervisor) if there’s a black out or any problem. There would be a dive mode feature as well that would have a timer and measure the Freediver’s depth. The device would also sync with a computer or tablet to log your training/diving progress.




I hope that this device can encourage and help new or little experienced Freedivers to push their limits in a safer manner.



If I can get some feedback from any Freediver’s (no matter what their experience) on what they think can help them improve I would really appreciate it.




Regards,




Victor

Sounds like a good idea. I don't know all the science behind it but if one could know the lower limit, personal consumption rates and ascent rate, it sounds like it could make free diving a lot safer.
One would wear this device and know when to safely surface by getting a reading of blood o2 on the bottom? Sounds great….but even when you see it's low….and a big cubera snapper is approaching…..it won't matter. That's the real danger free dive spear fishing.

Victor Mancini:

Using an Oximeter and heart rate monitor the device records progress and will alert the trainer (supervisor) if there’s a black out or any problem.

Click to expand...

That's why we learn to listen to our bodies and also have buddies and a safety divers on all longer dives.

How is that device going to send alerts from under water?

Victor Mancini:

There would be a dive mode feature as well that would have a timer and measure the Freediver’s depth.

Click to expand...

A cheap dive computer or bottom timer, that is.

Analyzing oxygen level in the blood as a function of time might give numbers and graphs showing how inefficient one is (and what progress is made). Unfortunately, the same can be achieved by measuring dyn/dnf distance in a pool and recording that.

That device might be fun when comparing the efficiencies of kicking styles and the measurable effects of a bad nights sleep, coffee, or other.

I am a beginner free diver. Done dyn/dnf in a pool only.

I would say I am an intermediate free diver - embarking on the journey ...

Measuring oxygen saturation of the blood is one thing but how would it cope with the mammalian dive reflex and blood shift and how shallow water blackout is linked to the partial pressure of Oxygen in the lungs? (I would say that shallow water blackout is the biggest risk factor in deepish free diving)

Also, wireless comms underwater is problematic - have a look and see how far wifi gets (I think radio waves don't travel well through water).