Electronic Dive Mask Image Enhancement for Underwater Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Divers face significant challenges with poor visibility and visual acuity underwater due to light scattering, turbidity, and environmental factors, which increase safety risks and hinder effective exploration and communication.
Innovation Solution
An electronic dive mask system incorporating a transparent display panel, optical sensors, and a system processing unit with advanced image enhancement algorithms, including global de-haze and clarifier algorithms, to enhance visual clarity and situational awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If divers use conventional diving equipment without image enhancement, then the device complexity is low, but the visibility and visual acuity underwater are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated system: the transparent display integrates dive data display with the mask structure, the camera system captures underwater scenes, and the processing unit applies image enhancement algorithms. This merging of camera, display, processing, and mask functions into one system improves visibility while managing device complexity through integration rather than separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The transparent display acts as an intermediary between the underwater environment and the diver's vision. It processes captured images through enhancement algorithms and presents them to the diver in real-time, mediating the poor natural visibility conditions. The display serves as a bridge that transforms degraded underwater visuals into enhanced, clearer images without requiring the diver to leave the water or use complex external equipment.
2Illumination intensity
If real-time image processing is applied to enhance visibility, then the visual clarity improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies image enhancement selectively rather than processing all image data at maximum intensity. The transparent display shows dive data in certain conditions and enhanced imagery in others, adjusting the level of processing based on operational needs. This partial application of image enhancement reduces energy consumption while maintaining visual clarity when most needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts processing parameters including enhancement algorithm intensity, display brightness, and refresh rates based on environmental conditions and operational requirements. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system optimizes the balance between visual clarity and energy consumption, using higher processing power only when necessary for safety or operational effectiveness.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a transparent display is integrated into the mask, then the diver can see dive data and enhanced imagery simultaneously, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transparent display serves multiple functions simultaneously: it displays dive data (depth, temperature, gas pressure), shows enhanced underwater imagery, and maintains mask structural integrity. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate display devices and simplifies the overall system architecture, making manufacturing more manageable despite the advanced capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The mask system is divided into modular components: the mask structure, the transparent display module, the camera system, and the processing unit. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured and tested separately before integration, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while enabling the sophisticated multi-functional capabilities of the complete system.
4Measurement precision
If advanced image enhancement algorithms are used, then the contrast and detail improvement is significant, but the processing time and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary image processing steps such as noise reduction and basic enhancement before more complex algorithms are executed. This preliminary action prepares the image data in advance, reducing the computational burden and processing time for subsequent detailed enhancement operations, thereby maintaining image detail while minimizing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The image enhancement is applied periodically at optimized intervals rather than continuously at maximum intensity. The processing unit analyzes incoming image data and applies enhancement algorithms at rates that maintain visual clarity while allowing processing cycles to manage computational load. This periodic application reduces average processing time while preserving essential image detail.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an enhanced electronic diving mask with various image enhancement hardware and software integrated with a diving mask, whereby images may be enhanced to enable a diver to achieve greater visibility and clearer vision while underwater. Notably, the present invention combines techniques that have previously been used in connection with internal patient surgical procedures, so that medical instrument imaging technology used inside the human body may for the first time be used to afford divers clearer vision, more visibility and greater safety.