jduebi 0 #1 March 30, 2006 Hi Looking for a new gear I took a look on several altimeters and asked my selve, why nobody builds this into a helmet. It wouldn't be that hard, there are several cheap technologies to integrade a digit display within a visor. Additional to the AGL, the vertical speed and the time till impact would be very interessting... Would you pay 500$ for such a helmet, or perhaps even 700$ ? Technicaly it wouldn't be a big deal. Greetings from switzerland Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #2 March 30, 2006 Did you already see the Titan by Alti2 ?? It was used successfully during the 400 Bigway record Greetings from Switzerland too Dammit, wonder why we are so slow http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2099153;search_string=titan;#2099153scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jduebi 0 #3 March 30, 2006 That's what I was talking about. But does it realy need to be that big? They wanna do one with GPS :-D, in 3 years there'll be a nice voice within the helmet, telling us "after the next cloud turn 90 degree right, track until you get the pull sign", or "5 seconds to flair, 4, 3, 2, 1 now!". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #4 March 30, 2006 QuoteWould you pay 500$ for such a helmet, or perhaps even 700$ ? No. Hell I won't pay that much for a camera helmet anymore.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #5 March 30, 2006 QuoteThat's what I was talking about. But does it realy need to be that big? At least it exists. HUDs have been vaporware in sports for the past couple decades. Scuba has been promised one since the 90s. But in the water, or moving 150mph in the air is no easy environment. You should look at the Optima from L&B: http://l-and-b.dk/access_opt.html They have a tiny LED and a dime sized LCD that acts as a visual altitude alert if you're looking for small. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jduebi 0 #6 March 30, 2006 That's nice but not what I want. Speed and a exact hight would be great. I'm working as a software developer and it realy shouldn't be a big deal. The problem is parhaps, that the market is not big enough to develop and manufacture a more complex system. And of course it's not to watch movies while sitting in a train, it has to work 99.999999% reliable within a harsh enviornment. Ie. it would need two altimeters for shure, one for the number which is more fancy, and one for the warning which is not that high tech but more reliable... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #7 March 30, 2006 if you need a test jumper I will be jumping a lot around gruyeres and Emmen this year. scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #8 March 30, 2006 You've got alot of problems with the idea. First off, you're locking people into jumping one type of helmet. What about open face helemts? What about frap hats? Even with that aside, you're locking them into jumping one type of full face helmet. If a jumper doosntt like the helmet you use, they don't get the technology. What happens when it breaks? The jumper is without both a helmet and altimeter while repairs are made. What happens when the visor fogs? What happens when a full face helemt gets used for it's intended purpose, and a guy gets a bootie in the face? Will it hold up? In the bigger picture, things like speed and time to impact, and a count down to flare are not the things that jumpers need to know in freefall or under canopy. You plan your skydive, and select your altitudes for break off, pull, and your hard deck. The only info you need is your altitude. Thats it. Any of the other things are things that either don't matter, or you should be able to figure out on you're own. This is similar to the guy who suggested a Cypres that can cut away for you, as well as deploy your reserve. Those are also skills a jumper needs to be able to manage on their own, or they need to stop jumping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jduebi 0 #9 March 30, 2006 I see your point, your totaly right. The solution of the SportVue is pritty nice that way. I just thought it would be fancy... (I think there was a realy good safety article about all this fancy stuff, perhaps I should read it again...) It needs a lot of ideas to get a good one :-D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #10 March 30, 2006 1: don't build it into a helmet - put it into a self contained unit which is swappable from one helmet to the next. See Davelepka post for all the reasons why. 2: price it to match the high end audibles on the market such as the protrack style devices. 3: make it simple – it only needs to provide a visual altitude display, any other "useful" bits of info simply result in sensory overload. 4: if it can display an alti reliably enough it can also beep in the same way as an traditional audible with very little extra effort - that gives you somewhere to mount the body of the device too. Basically, if you were talking about a device which does exactly what the protrack does but with the display is on the end of a wire rather than on the face of the unit I don't see why it wouldn't be very popular and indeed, very useful. I see no voodoo in having the alti on your helmet rather than on your hand/wrist/chest – it just means you only have to move your eyes rather than your whole head/arm/hand to look at it. There may be some minor safety issues with it obscuring part of your vision, but those can be sufficiently mitigated through design (think small and transparent) – certainly to the point that it's no more obscuring than a ring-sight which many people jump. Snagability could also probably be reduced to the point of inconsequence with the right design. I think that when combined with a ring-sight it could potentially significantly increase safety for people like camera flyers who commonly find it difficult to use a traditional alti without having it enter shot. And how many freeflyers these days confess to never looking at their alti because they were using their arms in HD/sit? Indefensible yes; but people are doing it... such a device would remove their last possible excuse. In the end all you're really talking about is an L&B Optima, (or indeed original C&G Time Out), with a jazzed up visual display switched from a simple tally light to something with a digital/analogue display. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GravityGirl 0 #11 March 30, 2006 L & B have the LCD display coming out for their audibles. I'm with Dave. Too much digital read outs inside your helmet could be distracting from the "real world". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,363 #12 March 30, 2006 I'm with Dave on this one also. I would think that the next generation of audibles might/will/should have a voice-over = "you are not at X000 ft" , then " You are now at Y000 ft", etc. I just hope she sounds sexy so that she gets my attention. Getting your attention is what is it all about, right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #13 March 30, 2006 Quoteyou only have to move your eyes rather than your whole head/arm/hand to look at it. You make a lot of great suggestions. But as for this one, above, I wonder if your eyes can focus on something that close to your face? For my tired old eyes, if I hold a book up to my nose, all the print goes blurry. It would be kind of funny watching people go cross-eyed trying to read their altitude during a dive. How about a simple LED light system, with green, yellow and red lights? You could program at what altitude each light comes on, just like you program warning beeps now. You could have the green light come on at exit, the yellow light at break-off altitude, and the red-light at pull alititude. Maybe have the red light start blinking with increasing rapidity below 2,000'. That way, you could sense where you are in your peripheral vision, without having to cross-eye focus on something up by your eyebrows. That's my two-cents worth of MacGyver input. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #14 March 30, 2006 Quote How about a simple LED light system, with green, yellow and red lights? You could program at what altitude each light comes on, just like you program warning beeps now. You could have the green light come on at exit, the yellow light at break-off altitude, and the red-light at pull alititude. Maybe have the red light start blinking with increasing rapidity below 2,000'. That way, you could sense where you are in your peripheral vision, without having to cross-eye focus on something up by your eyebrows. Alternatively, some variant of Alti-2's fun bar on the neptune. But that probably requires too much display space to do without being annoying. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leapdog 0 #15 March 30, 2006 QuoteHi Looking for a new gear I took a look on several altimeters and asked my selve, why nobody builds this into a helmet. It wouldn't be that hard, there are several cheap technologies to integrade a digit display within a visor. Additional to the AGL, the vertical speed and the time till impact would be very interessting... Would you pay 500$ for such a helmet, or perhaps even 700$ ? Technicaly it wouldn't be a big deal. Greetings from switzerland I know what you are thinking of. It's like a heads up display in the cockpit of a fighter jet. The visor would be the display and the numbering would be translucent not impeading the vision of the user. The technology exists, it's just a matter of adapting it. Gunnery Sergeant of Marines "I would like it if I were challenged mentally at my job and not feel like I'm mentally challenged." - Co-worker Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #16 March 30, 2006 QuoteI wonder if your eyes can focus on something that close to your face? It is surprisingly easy to change ones focus when using the Titan HUD. It's actually not much different than obtaining a sight picture on a weapon with both eyes open. QuoteHow about a simple LED light system, with green, yellow and red lights? The color blind people will throw a fit"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bodypilot1 0 #17 March 31, 2006 Quotein 3 years there'll be a nice voice within the helmet, telling us "after the next cloud turn 90 degree right, track until you get the pull sign", or "5 seconds to flair, 4, 3, 2, 1 now!". How about we also have one we wear on the toilet that tells us when to wipe our ass! Be safe Edwww.WestCoastWingsuits.com www.PrecisionSkydiving.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #18 March 31, 2006 Quotein 3 years there'll be a nice voice within the helmet, telling us "after the next cloud turn 90 degree right, track until you get the pull sign", or "5 seconds to flair, 4, 3, 2, 1 now!". In 4 years skydiving will be all virtual reality. it's pretty much the same but no risk! I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #19 March 31, 2006 You're right john, that could be something that whichever manufactuer takes up the project might have to address. The LED system has already been done with one light in L&B's Optima. But more lights could be a way round the potential problem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fcajump 164 #20 March 31, 2006 QuoteQuotein 3 years there'll be a nice voice within the helmet, telling us "after the next cloud turn 90 degree right, track until you get the pull sign", or "5 seconds to flair, 4, 3, 2, 1 now!". In 4 years skydiving will be all virtual reality. it's pretty much the same but no risk! In discussing appropriate equipment for relative work: QuoteOther...it is helpful is someone on the load wears an altimeter...and uses it. - Pat Works "Parachuting: The Art of Freefall Relative Work" (1975) Interesting how times change... one jumper now has more altitude sensing devices than some previous whole loads of skydivers...Always remember that some clouds are harder than others... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #21 March 31, 2006 QuoteThe LED system has already been done with one light in L&B's Optima Actualy, the option to add a blinking light has been around along time, since the 80s at least, on the original Dytter and I believe it was also available on the Cool & Groovy Timeout. IMO, just adding LEDs is just a rehashing of an old idea that wasn't even very popular then. We have far better alternatives and technologies available to us today to settle for a blinking light."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twibbles 0 #22 April 2, 2006 I'm thinking of a Neptune and some duct tape outside the visor of a full face helmet.. Ahh, the duct tape. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together Eugene "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrBrant 0 #23 April 2, 2006 man, what a simple and awesome idea! use packing tape, so you can still see out the sides of the neptune Might fall off pretty quicly though...... So you had better buy some spare Neptunes! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #24 April 3, 2006 QuoteActualy, the option to add a blinking light has been around along time, since the 80s at least, yup, see my first post Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brianfry713 0 #25 April 3, 2006 QuoteI'm with Dave on this one also. I would think that the next generation of audibles might/will/should have a voice-over = "you are not at X000 ft" , then " You are now at Y000 ft", etc. I just hope she sounds sexy so that she gets my attention. Getting your attention is what is it all about, right? I'm hoping the Titan with it's API and audible unit will be available to do something like this and whatever else you can think up. http://www.alti-2.com/Titan/titan.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
