Create an underwater messaging app

A team from the University of Washington has developed an app called AquaApp, the first underwater smartphone messaging app. eandt (E&T).

This is the first application that works on a phone and can conduct audio communications underwater, and can be used on existing devices such as smartphones and smart watches without the need for parts or additional hardware.

In addition to the device that the user is carrying, the only thing the user of the application needs are water-proof accessories to hold their device and withstand the depth to which they want to dive, the researchers said.

Perhaps the most likely use of the application would be for activities such as diving, where diving professionals currently use 200 hand signals to communicate and communicate information, including indications of oxygen level, proximity of aquatic creatures and performing cooperative tasks.

The AquaApp interface is expected to enable users to select messages from among 240 preset messages corresponding to the hand signals used by divers.

The user can also filter messages according to eight categories, including guidelines, environmental factors and equipment status. In this way, the application enables important communication without the need for a network connection.

“Smartphones rely on radio signals such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for wireless communications,” said Tochao Chen, co-author of the research.

These things don’t give a good broadcast underwater, but the acoustic signals do. With AquaApp, we are showing that underwater messaging using speaker and microphone is widely available in smartphones and watches.”

The team tested the application system in six locations that included different water conditions as well as different levels of activity, including a location under a bridge in calm waters, in a famous waterfront promenade with strong currents, near a fishing pier in a lake where many people pass, and on a beach with strong waves.

The researchers evaluated the performance and operation of the application from distances of up to 113 meters and depths of up to 12 meters.

The results revealed that the ideal range for sending and receiving messages was from zero to 30 metres, covering most of the recreational and professional diving scenarios.

While building and testing the app, the developer team found themselves having to overcome a number of technical challenges that they had previously encountered on dry ground.

“The underwater scenario presents new problems compared to applications operating in the air,” said study co-author Justin Chan. For example, fluctuations in signal strength are exacerbated by reflections from the surface, ground and shore. Motion from nearby people, waves, and nearby objects can interfere with data transmission.”