It would seem to me -- given the success of the Nemesis -- that it won't be too far in the future that each diver in a team would have an air-integrated computer that would determine DAC (dynamic air consumption), would have dissimilar tank sizes input at the beginning of the dive, and would constantly calculate the turn based on thirds, DAC, dissimilar tank sizes, EANx or air, depth, decomp requirments, etc., etc. and have them all coordinated via digital transmission (a la Nemesis). 5 years from now, ROV (remotely operated vehicles) u/w devices - miniature sized - are used to explore unknown or inaccessible cave systems with live video feed back to the surface. 10 years from now, place 3 signal-source devices on the ground, spaced widely apart, a team of divers goes into an unknown cave system and -- via triangulation -- the system is surveyed real-time... no one ever gets lost, for the wrist-mounted LCD screens show them exactly where they are. Maybe 20 years from now, for tri-mix dives we'll have computer controlled servo-valves that dynamically mix gases from 3 or 4 bottles on your back, feed them into a semi-closed-circuit rebreather, servo-controlled valve from an argon bottle into the dry-suit, and we'll have 12 hour bottom times at 600fsw. ??? 40 years? How about a device with a fist-sized fusion reactor that extracts hydrogen and oxygen from the water directly into a rebreather, and extracts deuterium for it's own fuel supplies (and, hey, have it extract some gold while you're at it, and it'll pay for itself!) and provide heat to a dry-suit, so we'll have bottom times measured in days. Call it, "VirtualGills". How about a 1ATM suit that fits like a glove? -------------------------------------------- E-mail: rlair00@ig*.pe*.co* (Robert Laird) --------------------------------------------
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