Cloud technology is exciting and the possibilities surrounding the technology are expanding each day. Will cloud finally reach the sea? Cloud coverage for the marine navigation industry is almost inevitable. It really is just a case of when, not if. TIMEZERO is currently developing a tool that will circumvent pricey satellite internet provider fees.
New industries have popped up both in the leisure industries and in the business to business industries thanks to the ability to have information stored online that is instantly accessible and updated in real time. Cloud has allowed companies and people to share information instantly.
Of course a big stumbling block for the marine industry with the Cloud is that it requires an internet connection and then the real time updates will start racking up a pretty expensive internet bill from your satellite internet provider. For this reason, the demand has not been the same as in other industries, however, TIMEZERO plans to create a way to allow.
Cloud technology would still open up a list of possibilities to marine navigation software. Let’s take a look at some of these!
Advantages for all markets:
Sharing Routes with friends:
Normally you tell a friend before heading out to sea where you are going and for how long you will be gone for. If anything should happen, the appropriate coast guards can at least have an idea of your possible location. While of course sharing your exact route precise to 100m would be of advantage in such a scenario, this would not replace the traditional methods anytime soon.
Sharing your route with friends that also have TIMEZERO is great because it’s fun to share routes with friends. They can see if they have been to certain locations, give you pointers on places that could be tricky, wax lyrical about local places you have to visit and just generally get excited about the joys of sailing. Imagine that it is like checking in on Facebook or Foursquare but way more.
Community:
People that sail are instantly part of the sailing community. It is a friendly community in which connections can be made instantly and can last a lifetime. But what if you could create an online community where you could see real quality information on things such as routes created by people who have decided to share their previous trips. Imagine if you always wanted to visit an island but you were not sure about the accessibility. Through an online community you could find a route from another TIMEZERO user and send it to your TIMEZERO software to use yourself. Sounds interesting, right? Furthermore, you could get in contact with those people and get ideas, making your trip more fun. Sharing information about locations opens up an area making it more accessible and fun than ever before.
High Resolution Weather Forecasts:
Receiving weather forecasts at sea is essential to ensure that you are prepared for every eventuality. That being said, it can cost an arm and a leg to get updates which haven’t changed barely at all since the last update, making it not only expensive but also quite pointless. What if it would be possible to have a warning where by logging into the cloud, you could receive a warning that could compare the information from your current weather forecast and the new weather forecast and if there is a real change, then a warning message could be sent to you, letting you know that your current weather forecast is no longer accurate.
Automatic Data Back up:
Putting the bottom of the sea up in the cloud:
Of course, fishing has become a science that is made up of variable data like the weather conditions, time of year, etc. but also the equally important fixed data like the bathymetry of the seafloor. Imagine if you could use the Cloud to access other bathymetry data and build up a super bathymetry data. Working together (only with those that you choose to accept), local fishermen could share their bathymetry data to provide a map that of the sea floor that is more data rich than has ever been possible.