If you ever hear the words “is there a pilot on board this plane?”, it is time to say your prayers.
That may no longer be the case because Garmin — a world expert in advanced aviation technology — has made a pilot smartwatch capable of guiding an aircraft to the nearest airport.
It won’t quite land the plane, but it will get it to the vicinity of the nearest runway.
Garmin International, the fine watchmaking arm of the group, has unveiled the D2 Mach 1 GPS aviator smartwatch, which includes preflight, in-flight and postflight features and tools to assist pilots in navigation and enhance situational awareness, along with multi-band frequency and multi-GNSS support for better and more accurate GPS positioning.
Direct-to navigation lets pilots fly straight to an airport or waypoint in the preloaded worldwide aeronautical database directly from the watch, or choose the “Nearest” function to activate a direct course to a nearby airport.
In case of emergency, the D2 Mach 1 can even show the best glide speed, estimated glide distance and glide time during an engine-related issue, along with a bearing pointer to the nearest airport and a list of alternate airports.
These advanced features may not be needed by every potential customer for the $1199 timepiece, but it also has all the usual health, wellness and messaging functionality of a high end smartwatch, and has an impressive 11 day battery life despite its bright AMOLED touchscreen display.
“Whether you’re climbing into the cockpit for a fun weekend flight, practicing or shooting instrument approaches to minimums or flying professionally, the new D2 Mach 1 delivers the latest and most advanced aviation functionality and smartwatch capabilities right to your fingertips,” says Carl Wolf, Garmin vice president of aviation sales and marketing.
“With its new, sophisticated design, the D2 Mach 1 proves that professional gear can also be a great statement piece no matter your destination.”
On the health front, the D2 Mach1 offers heart and sleep monitoring with sleep score, breathwork activities, fitness age, respiration, Pulse Ox4, all-day stress tracking, hydration, and women’s health tracking.
Garmin’s patented Body Battery energy monitoring shows how “charged” a person’s body is as well as the effects of stress and exercise.
A new Health Snapshot feature logs a two-minute window of key health stats and generates a report users can share with a health care provider.
The D2 Mach 1 has more than 30 built-in indoor and GPS sports apps to support walking, running, cycling, pool swimming, hiking, advanced strength training and more.
It is preloaded with SkiView maps and more than 42,000 golf courses from around the world.
It can be worn on a titanium bracelet or leather strap.
