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Artificial waves simulators?
Yeah, we've seen them before.
They don't exactly anything new.
Check this one out.
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360 degrees system that spits out not one, but up to five waves.
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So the team that run this operation are based in Queensland, Australia, with all the social distancing regulations.
I haven't been able to check it out in person yet, but I did chat to Aaron Travis, founder and CEO of snowflakes, Australia.
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We've created what we think is a revolutionary and patented wave generation system.
Some years ago I had inspiration of skimming rock with my kids and I was throwing bigger boulders in as dads often do and watching these waves ripple out and break along the shore and wondering That was a big scale and could it work?
Could we create something that would be surfable?
From the broader topic perspective we've done quite a few and started in a backyard pool.
And then move to a friend's farm farming paddock where I build a hand built 120 fifth scale model to prove the concept I needed to know that it worked and that you could shape waves differently and, and we built a bigger prototype of one fifth scale to prove things further and then jumped into the full scale, you know that we've got your phone so that was a big step.
It was a very arduous, long, painful process but well worth it because you just have to go through that to prove the point.
As I said, we've seen wave generators before, so I wanted to get Aaron's take on what sets this one apart from the competition.
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The obvious distinction is the fact that we're creating a circular set of swells.
The benefits from that are quite there's quite a number.
we're leveraging.
Now displacement, whole if you like using the buoyancy and gravity Which means as a measure of efficiency, and then you get a multiplier of multiple waves breaking at the same time.
And because you can shape those waves differently, you then have simultaneous variety of the skill level of waves as well.
So you get more waves, you get more variety.
And with the unit we've created, you can actually create larger waves than what's been available.
And even what we're producing now is still not really the full size.
And we don't know that there's an upper limit to that.
Because in theory, you can make 15 foot face barrels to have pipeline at the push of a button if you really want to, which should be insane, but you could run it as a normal surf pack and then for a big event, you could turn it up to code rain and the world's best pro surfers standing in barrels.
The other benefit which is not obvious.
Is that surfing you want offshore wind conditions on the waves.
You want the wind to be feathering up the wave not pushing the back of the wave.
So because of we've got a 360 degree layout.
It doesn't matter what the wind direction half the waves will be experienced in their offshore conditions so we can guarantee.
Glassy or offshore conditions somewhere on the lake not all at the same time but somewhere in the lake.
With the mechanism and how that's designed, we looked at a number of options but settled on pneumatic or hydraulic power.
So we have the flexibility of compressed air, which you can maneuver and change direction quite quickly.
And then you get the power of a hydraulic drive in the middle and all that's been a patented process which allows us to move a large mess quickly.
And we're also looking at how they can be applied to other industries and technologies that there's quite a list of ideas that we wanna develop down the track, but that's pretty much how it works.
And then as that machine moves up and down, we have to tune that so that it works in harmony with.
With that moving water becomes quite efficient.
Now in the scheme of things, the plunger mechanism is quite compact.
So the idea of having inland surf experiences even competitions does seem like it might well be a reality in the not too distant future.
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So why would you have artificial ways it's, it's really that ability to duplicate perfection over and over.
It allows then an environment where you can practice a lot more consistently a lot more regularly and just get more wave time.
So in the ocean you have to have the right conditions.
You have to be there at the right time.
And then you have to, you know, basically battle others to get the waves anyway, and you can't do it at night.
So the time that you'll get standing on a board and practicing maneuvers is incredibly accelerated compared to the ocean.
So it's just the standards of surfing as we've already seen with some of the surf packs.
Know the standard of people's aerials and other manoeuvres is already improving as a result of the surfing thing in the Olympics.
This provides the perfect safe stadium for viewing and for those events.
But also for the practice and build up to it.
You can have people in out of Mongolia, you know, joining the Olympic surf team, which would be absolutely bizarre normally.
And sure, having a closed off prototype concept facility is one thing, but bringing it to the masses worldwide is where things will really start to get into.
Christin
We really are pushing into the international market immediately.
We've had more than 380 something inquiries now from around the world.
In most countries now that there's there's 120 something projects that are taking a serious interest in We've got, we sold our first license in the USA and there's another one coming through in the USA.
And there's two other territories that have been taken options on in the US.
I think it's now for over 50 countries where there's been inquiries for them.
But yeah, we're really happy the first commercial one out starting this year to be open next year.
For me, it's a dream.
Come through.
It's been crazy when you go to your phone and actually watch these waves rolling in and we see you know Marc Luber and Matt Lynch and Ben Fire and others, World Champion surfers that I get to surf with now, enjoying these waves and you're watching the reaction of everyone else's.
They see it for the first time.
It's Quite humbling for us and then knowing that it will be bigger, better and you know, in different locations where it's quite a surreal thing when people see it.
And even in fact I think the best case is the farmer who owns the land that we're on When we first stood on the hill that we've made out of, you know the excavation material and looking at over these waves breaking into this paddock, he just didn't have any words he said you're just gonna have to send me the video.
I don't even know how to describe this to my family and was quite quite profound.
Well, they have it, a bomb paddock that was converted to a surface ility And one that might will make an appearance in your area soon.
Thanks for watching guys.
Be sure to check out some of our other videos where we take a look at wave generators and let us know in the comments if you've ever been on one or would like to get on one.
Until next time, take it easy.
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