Evaluating the ergonomic performance of Dive computers

Dive computers (DCs) are compact digital devices which perform the task of decompression management without the need for a watch or dive tables. As the diving industry grows, the number of different DCs in the market increases and users have many alternatives to select an effective one among them. Considering that it is a life supporting device, selecting the most effective DC for safe and comfortable dive activity is crucial. In this study, we determined the criteria and implemented a multi-criteria decision making method for evaluating the ergonomic performance of different DCs on the market. The importance weights and the values of the criteria are determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on expert opinions and user surveys. Ten different DC on the market which are: Aeris Manta, Oceanic Geo, Aeris Epic, Oceanic Atom 2, Cressi-Sub Edy, Mares Nemo Sport, Sherwood Wisdom 2, Aeris Elite T3, Oceanic VT3 and Mares Nemo Wide are selected for evaluation of the ergonomic performance according to ease of reading primary screen, ease of accessing alternative screen data, ease of discerning critical data, ease of discerning noncritical data, ease of reading warnings, effectiveness of backlight and ease of understanding the user manual. This methodology enabled us to evaluate the ergonomic performance of the ten DCs according to the six ergonomic performance criteria. The ranking is: 1. Oceanic VT3, 2. Aeris Elite T3, 3. Mares Nemo Wide, 4. Aeris Manta, 5. Mares Nemo Sport, 6. Oceanic Geo, 7. Oceanic Atom 2, 8. Aeris Epic, 9. Sherwood Wisdom 2 and 10. Cressi-Sub Edy.