Gear & the human factor.

[falxori 0]

as part of my master's, i'm taking a course on UI design, and now i'm looking for something to do a project on. skydiving gear looks like a good choice.

when going over my gear (rig, helmet, alti, etc) i see a lot of tradeoffs between simplicity, reliabilty and ease of use but i'm sure there are a lot of aspects i'm missing.

i'd be happy to get any ideas you might have on the UI aspects of our gear (both jumper and rigger).
for example:
- location of handles.
- cable routing
- alti , digital or analog?
- new devices that would make your life easier.
etc.

not sure where this discusion will go, but i'm sure we'll all learn something.
O

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

[mr2mk1g 10]

Perhaps add in a little on aesthetics such as things like stainless actually being marginally worse from a safety perspective than non-stainless hardware and that we all jump mini rings when they also increase the cutaway forces, (although perhaps their choice is mitigated by comfort/function).

Ok so neither of these choices are likely to kill anyone, (that fact in itself could arguably render them insignificant) but the figures speak for themselves... we actively choose less safe systems.

[riggerrob 558]

An interesting statistical study would analyze accident rates before (1970s) and after (1990s) skydiving handle locations were standardized.
Back in the early 1980s we had a dismal fatality rate during the conversion process from rounds to squares.
Just as the motorcycle industry standardized handles to reduce accident rates, we saw the same process in the skydiving industry during the 1980s.
A typical round rig had a main ripcord on the right chest, some type of Capewell canopy releases and a reserve ripcord somewhere on your belly.
It was not until the 1990s that we standardized square rigs with BOC main handle, 3-Ring release handle on right chest and reserve ripcord on left chest.
In the interim we jumped a bewildering array of main handles. For example, my first piggyback rig (Six Pack from Niagara Parachutes) had its main pilot chute stowed on the bellyband. My second rig (Eze-Flyer made by Rogersport) had its pilot chute mounted on the front of the right leg strap. My third rig (Mirage made by Skydive Gunter) had its pilot chute stuffed in a pocket on the back of the leg strap. My fourth rig (Talon made by Rigging Innovations) had a BOC. All those rigs had throw-out pilot chutes.
Pull-outs may have standardized main handles much earlier, but there were dozens of variations on pull-out handles (Martildo, fuzzy rat, etc.) some of which were more reliable than others. Hee! Hee!
If you review accident reports and fatality statistics from the 1980s, you will find a depressing number of "no pull" fatalities, because people forgot where handles were on their new rigs.
Your study will conclude that standardizing handle locations vastly reduced fatality rates during the 1980s.
I would avoid fatality reports after 1992, because after that Cypres kept a lot of stupid people alive.

[MarkM 0]

Quote

- new devices that would make your life easier.

I'd like a helmet that could do HUD. That way I could visually see altitude or even GPS without having to look down at my wrists.

[jmfreefly 0]

I'd agree that standardization is a huge plus as part of the human factors design of gear. Our dz swapped over from spring loaded PC to BOC for all our student rigs. This was mostly to maintain consistency for students moving on to their own gear.

However, we still are using an SOS for simplicity and reliability during a malfunction.

A great example of the dichotomy.

j

[jannu 0]

I'd like to have an APD.... Automatic Packing Device

Pretty please...

[falxori 0]

any thoughts on the location of the cutaway & reserve handles?

ofcourse, making it a standard is the way to do it.
but what is the UI advantage of having the handles where they are today?

and on that note, why not standard the location of a hook knife, closing loop (and flaps) location, etc?

Ori

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

[Zoter 0]

I know there was one made....but ya dont see or hear anything about them..
Something as simple as an LED ( like a Cam eye) that hangs unobtrusively in front of your eye and flashes different colours as your pro track goes through its zones......(not to replace the audible alert, but to compliment it)....belt and braces and all that