IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - September/October 2022 - 99

advantages of a no longer existing line of sight
and that these are enormous. In addition, the
WADAC is particularly suitable for the safety
diver, who receives good support in securing
the diver. From the diving point of view, the
WADAC was received with mixed feelings.
DISCUSSION
The primary goal of the WADAC is to support
the safety diver in securing the current diver by
providing permanent monitoring without visual
contact. Under certain conditions, the WADAC
creates enormous advantages. However, the
safety diver must still be able to assess the situation
based on the transmitted values. In addition,
when there are many obstacles between
diver and safety, the WADAC has a limited connection
quality. The connection was interrupted
more often in winding caves. In the shipwreck,
on the other hand, permanent data transmission
could be guaranteed. A major disadvantage of
the WADAC is its clearly too small and low-contrast
display, which almost every subject noted.
Most of the subjects, however, wear glasses and
go diving without glasses, yet the brightness was
not set to the maximum brightness at the beginning,
as this in turn is dazzling. By installing an
ambient light sensor, the brightness could be
adjusted automatically. The heart rate sensor
posed a further challenge. It only delivers a high
level when a heartbeat is detected. This revealed
that this system was not reliable enough, as signals
from the chest strap could get lost or other
chest straps caught them incorrectly. The size of
the WADAC was also found sometimes bulky on
the wrist, but this is due to the early prototype.
FUTURE WORK
The WADAC has room for improvement in
many areas. In the event of further development,
the form factor can be reduced, the design developed,
and power consumption optimized. In
addition, the cost of manufacturing a WADAC is
around €2000. By changing to another, more
compact and cheaper modem, the WADAC can
also be implemented at significantly lower
costs.18 In relation to developments in recent
years, there will be many possibilities in this
regard. Another challenge is IouT for freedivers.
Through integration, relatives, coast guards, and
other authorized persons could intervene at any
September/October 2022
time in the event of danger. That could enormously
shorten the time span of a rescue chain.
By linking a life jacket for divers to the WADAC,
the safety diver can deploy the jacket externally
and without exposing himself to any danger. This
is especially important when the weight difference
between safety and diver is huge, but also when
unforeseen safety events such as cramps, pressure
equalization problems, etc., occur.
Thanks to the modular system of the WADAC,
any components can be added or removed at
any time, which is an ideal basis for further scientific
investigations. In addition, the collected
data can be used to identify different situations
with the help of machine learning. Consistent
further development toward a user interface is
also useful.
CONCLUSION
The WADAC is a consistent further development
of previous freediving computers. Through
consistent further development, the WADAC Prototype
can be reduced to the size of a scuba diving
computer without major problems. Nevertheless,
the WADAC can already be used in competitions
or in the training of student divers as well as in
professional training, since in these areas the
costs are not as decisive as with a recreational
freediver. However, the authors do not know how
willing the recreational freedivers are regarding
the amount they need to pay for such a product.
Just as the development in the area ofmobile computing
has developed rapidly, this area will also
benefit from such rapid development, which in
turn shows itself in a lower price and higher
availability.
&REFERENCES
1. P. Buzzacott and P. J. Denoble, " DAN Annual Diving
Report 2018 Edition A report on 2016 diving fatalities,
injuries, and Incidents [Internet], " Durham (NC): Divers
Alert Network, 2018.
2. E. Schagatay, " Reply: Safety will increase with
knowledge, " 2012, p. 1. [Online]. Available: https://
www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?
fuseaction¼citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]¼
citjournalarticle_370729_36
3. K. Krack, M. Stepanek, and M. C.-B.-H. Diving, " Breathhold
diving, " 2006. Accessed: Oct. 2, 2020. [Online].
Available: http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org
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https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370729_36 https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370729_36 https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370729_36 https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370729_36 https://www.safetylit.org/citations/index.php?fuseaction=citations.viewdetails&citationIds[]=citjournalarticle_370729_36 http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org

IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - September/October 2022

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