![]() ![]() The advancements developed by marine tech leaders haven’t gone unnoticed in the wider boating industry. “Why not have a device like that where you press one button and it wakes up the boat, or another button that shuts the boat down for the evening?” World-class innovation “We’re integrating products that people are used to using in their daily lives, but maybe not so much so in a boat, so things like a key fob that each of us uses every single day to open or close our car,” said Michele Goldsmith, sales manager of key accounts and PR/media manager at Mastervolt. Mastervolt, which recently teamed up with Garmin and Scout Boats for its fully integrated GPSMAP Glass Helm Series displays, said that recent technology is enabling a vastly different, more cohesive boating experience. Navico’s latest products include B&G’s H5000 and Zeus Touch instrumentation, autopilot and displays for the sailing market, and Simrad’s NSO evo2 Glass Bridge system, which won an Innovation Award in the consumer electronics category at the 2014 Miami International Boat Show. “When you have off the vessel you can put it into a database, you can crunch it with other data and factors you see going on, and you can bring the boater back a new set of information he wasn’t aware of before.” “There are different kinds of things you can do to add value to the consumer’s boating experience by taking data on and off the vessel,” he said. He has helped coordinate a corporate restructuring around the idea of a digitally enabled boating experience where he said, “the possibilities are limitless.” Louis Chemi is executive vice president and managing director for the recreational marine division of Navico, parent company of Lowrance, B&G, MX Marine and Simrad. With the Glass Cockpit System, it’s really all on that big multi-function display.” To open your windows you use one thing, to open up your gas tank you use something else, if you want to control your air conditioning you do something else. “It’s actually better than car-like, because when you think about it in your car, you’re going different places for different controls. “What we’re trying to do is bring all important boat operating information to the operator at the helm station, and then allow it to be customizable to what’s important for that particular user so they can change what they see in order to customize that experience,” said Marcia Kull, Volvo Penta’s vice president for marine sales. With ever more aspects of the vessel being integrated into one or more screens that can be manipulated by touch - just like smartphones and tablets - today’s connected cockpit screens can give you the weather forecast, chart a course, monitor fuel consumption, control pumps, provide real-time maintenance data that can be shared with nearby dealerships and even set the mood with one-touch navigational and lighting as the sun sets. Now engine controls, intelligent diagnostics and web-based data are being added to the mix in the latest generation of touch-based systems with wide-ranging implications for boat owners, manufacturers, the aftermarket and dealers. Screens have been fixtures in high-end boats for years, primarily to display navigation and fish-finder information. ![]() While we’re still only seeing the tip of the iceberg, the latest cockpit technology combines the Internet with onboard sensors to provide real-time, location-specific data to captains via gleaming, glassy displays that are becoming the center of today’s connected vessels. The boating market is next up on the revolution fast track. In the auto world, the latest infotainment systems pair smartphones and tablets with the car’s Wi-Fi-connected system to monitor the health of the vehicle, automatically send maintenance notifications, stream live radio stations, book hotel rooms and locate nearby restaurants among many other futuristic functions. Did you forget about the rack of lamb torching away in the oven? Avoiding an inferno is just a screen tap away. Did those wily kids leave the lights on? Pull out your cell phone from afar and it’s lights out back home. You’ve undoubtedly seen commercials for home automation systems promising an effortless modern lifestyle. New technology is transforming boat cockpits ![]()
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