Alleco, a Finnish SME, has developed the world’s first tablet computer with a fully functional touchscreen that works under water. Alleco’s objective with this project is to replicate the market success of consumer mobile devices in an underserved market on a global scale. The proposed outcome of the project will be an ICT solution for professional divers - ranging from scientists, military and fire&rescue to dive instructors - that will disrupt the market for diving equipment and make underwater work & navigation more precise, safe and cost-efficient.
With patented core technology, and 25 years of experience in the industry, Alleco is well positioned to bring this novel solution rapidly to the market. With the developed product range Alleco is expecting to realize its growth strategy and become a global leader in providing the diving industry with ground-breaking new information and communication technologies.
The specific objectives of the project are to finalize the necessary hardware (TRL7) and software (TRL7) components and to develop an underwater data exchange- and positioning system (TRL7). Pilot testing will help to validate the full solution in real-life environments and raise customer awareness.
Alleco, a Finnish consultancy firm focused on marine biology, set out in 2014 to create a solution that enables divers to access digital data management. In the scientific diving community, the tools are still widely traditional. Notes and other recollections from under the water have to be gathered on a plastic slate with a led pencil. The issue for divers is that collecting data has to be done in an old-fashioned method under water, while the same data has to be re-typed into a digital format once on the surface.
Prior to the Alleco underwater ICT solution there was no practical platform to handle digital information under water. This lead to the creation of the prototype for the first underwater tablet computer. With the assistance of the EU Horizon 2020 project, Alleco set out to bring 21st century technology into the underwater world. Through various iterations, now in 2018 Alleco has developed Alltab - the underwater tablet. The Alltab is equipped with a functional touchscreen, USB-capability and a depth resistance down to 150 meters.
With the touchscreen computer that was functional underwater a platform to support more efficient data collection and processing became available. This lead to the question, how can we make best use of this opportunity. Alleco proceeded to develop a software application for data collection. In addition, additional device to provide connectivity under water were developed. Through surface buoys connectivity such as two way communication or satellite signal assisted underwater navigation was made possible.
This has currently just been the starting point of the ICT revolution under water. Alleco firmly believes that these innovative underwater ICT solutions will have positive effects for years to come.
