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SurfSens Brings Surfing Into the Computer Age

Posted by timothy on from the lacks-a-good-place-for-snacks dept.

cylonlover writes "In an activity that for many of its participants is akin to a religion, the merging of surfing and technology might seem a bit like blasphemy. But while surfing is still about lifestyle for many of us, these days it's also a competitive sport offering huge amounts of prize money, so it's no surprise to see the emergence of boards packing more than just polyurethane within their fiberglass shells. With the aim of 'turning feelings into facts and figures,' research company Tecnalia and Spanish surfboard manufacturer Pukas have teamed up to create a surfboard that packs a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS compass, pressure sensors and strain gauges to measure the flex of the board."

7 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Surprising by Toam · · Score: 2

    I'm quite genuinely surprised that this has not been done sooner.

    In hindsight, it seems quite an obvious thing to do.

  2. Unacceptable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    As an Amish gentleman, I find this product quite wicked, and I shall not purchase one.

    1. Re:Unacceptable. by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      Says the Amish gentleman posting on /.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Unacceptable. by kitsunewarlock · · Score: 2

      Not that I'm saying you believe what will soon follow, but it's a general misconception due to many (usually comic) depictions of them in popular media. But the amish don't believe technology is wicked because of any kind of supernatural fear of the technology itself (i.e. they don't believe electricity is evil) so much as they believe that relying on things outside their immediate community is wrong and will lead to dire complications. Plus they believe electricity leads to unnecessary wants that distract people from their physical, ethical and spiritual development. While I'm not saying their lifestyle is more or less suitable for man in general, I do understand where they are coming from. Says the graphic design and marketing major posting 23 minutes before midnight instead of getting some much needed sleep.

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      Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
  3. LOL by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

    Yeah, right. Take one of these foo-foo boards out and get the **** beaten out of you by "locals only" townies. These rednecks then take your board, break it in half, and sell the parts to a chop shop. (Do they even have chop shops for surfboards? Well they'll have to start now!)

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  4. Obligatory by zill · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yo dawg, we heard you like surfing so we put a computer in yo' surfboard so you can surf while you surf.

  5. flex and return speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Recently surfboard flex and return speed have bean at the forefront of board design. Unfortunately there are two very big problems with trying to design a board that has perfect flex. One is that surfers descriptions are flawed. A surfer might say a board feels stiff when the board is actually very flexible. The stiff feeling comes from the board having a fast return speed from flex. The second problem is that a board that has the best new flex design could get bad reviews because it is not what people are used to. With the computerized surfboard it will be possible to get to the bottom of these kinds of subtleties. This really could revolutionize surf board design.

    I would love to hear what any of the Computational Fluid Dynamics folks might have to say about all of this.