GiPSi Navigation was
formed to change the way pilots interact with their
avionics…to change the “human” interface. The
objective is to give the pilot more time to concentrate on
the things that are “outside” the cockpit thus, allowing
the pilot to better maintain a higher level of situational
awareness.
The first step in this process was the development and
production of a portable, voice based GPS for general
aviation pilots. The product is through alpha and
beta testing and is now in the hands of a number of pilot
customers across the USA.
Future products will be developed based upon the objective
of improving the human interaction between pilots and
their instruments, while keeping the highest safety
standards
History
Over 10 years ago, a veteran Silicon Valley technology
inventor, engineer and entrepreneur took up flying.
During his training he learned how to use GPS in various
configurations, handheld, panel based and in “glass
cockpits”. Several years later he purchased a new
car that came equipped with a built in GPS that alerted
him to make changes in or follow a certain direction via a
pleasant voice. There was no longer a need to watch
an electronic map on a small screen in the dashboard,
consequently he could keep his eyes on the
road. Shortly after this new acquisition he was
flying over the Santa Cruz mountains (on the San Francisco
peninsula) in a Cessna 172 and was talking to ATC on a
path back to Palo Alto Municipal airport and an “EPIPHANY
OCCURRED”. Not necessarily some form of ethereal
manifestation, but more in the form of a HERCULES C-130,
at about 2000 feet, heading in his direction and he was
busy fiddling with knobs and dials in the panel and had
drifted off track. Fortunately he was able to pull
up and avoid a serious mishap. It immediately
occurred to him that he should have been looking “outside”
rather than “inside” the cockpit. This was the
genesis of a product idea, something that could give him
verbal warnings and directions, so that he could spend
more time maintaining better situational awareness outside
the cockpit. After numerous discussions with other
pilots a design for a product was conceived and luckily
there was already in place a company to further develop
and produce the product.
The GiPSi voice based GPS was developed by Benedict
Communications Company. Benedict Communications has
a 25+ year history of successfully designing and marketing
sophisticated electronics devices to commercial customers
and government agencies. These devices have always
been considered “mission critical”. The GiPSi
portable GPS device for pilots was designed for General
Aviation pilots by a pilot, who wanted to dramatically
improve the human interface between the pilot and the
instruments. The design criteria were based upon
effective cost, reliability and state of the art
electronics and their software.
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