SeaGlance is a small cardinal buoy that hangs on eight lines and moves with a real buoy, out at sea, right now.
See how it worksPick a wave buoy anywhere on the list: off the Belgian or Dutch coast, the west of Ireland, in the North Atlantic, off California or Hawaii. SeaGlance fetches what that buoy is measuring and plays it back, so the little buoy on your desk heaves and rolls the way the sea is moving there.
A calm morning is a slow, gentle sway. A winter storm makes it lift and lean. It is quiet, it needs no screen time, and it is never the same twice.
Turn the knob to browse the list, press to choose. The display shows the buoy's name, position and the wave height there now.
Every half hour it fetches the latest measurements from public ocean data services: wave height, period and the direction the swell comes from.
Eight motors wind the lines in and out together, so the buoy rises and falls up to about 8 cm and tilts up to about 22°, with the real wave timing.
Design in progress
All three models are in development. The pictures are design renders; colours, details and finishes may still change.
SeaGlance uses open data that national ocean services publish for everyone. Most buoys report summary values every 10 to 30 minutes, and SeaGlance turns those into a natural, ever-changing motion. Buoys marked with a star send their actual measured movement, and SeaGlance replays it.
On first start the display shows a QR code. Scan it with your phone, or join the network SeaGlance-XXXX with the password shown. A set-up page opens (if not, go to 192.168.4.1). Pick your home network, type its password, and SeaGlance restarts on your Wi-Fi.
Turn it to open the buoy menu. Hold it for a second for Settings. Hold it for three seconds to put SeaGlance to rest; turn or press to wake it. In a menu, turn to move and press to choose. A menu you leave alone for 30 seconds closes by itself.
Turn the knob: the buoy menu opens in the folder of the current buoy. Press a folder (marked >) to open it, < Back to go up, and press a buoy to pick it. Buoys marked * play their real recorded motion. You can also choose at seaglance.eu/my with your owner code: link your SeaGlance once in Settings › Buoy and sea › Choose on website, then pick from the list or the map. It arrives within five minutes. The last choice wins, knob or website.
At seaglance.eu/my, tap ☆ next to a buoy. It goes in a Favourites folder at the top of the buoy menu on your SeaGlance, so the buoys you like are one turn away. Unlinking the website clears them.
Settings › Buoy and sea › Replay and demo plays the last 24 hours or 7 days as a time-lapse, saves the last 24 hours to keep, and plays your saved stretches. Demo seas work without Wi-Fi. Back to live sea, or picking a buoy, returns to the live waves.
In Settings › Night rest you choose the hours when the buoy comes to rest and the motors and display switch off. Set your Time zone first so the hours match your clock. Rest now, or holding the knob for three seconds, rests it right away. Turn or press the knob to wake it early.
Choose Settings › Lines and motors › Slack lines before you lift or carry SeaGlance. The lines go loose and the motors switch off. Press the knob to tighten them again: the display then walks you through it with the stringing stand.
Choose Settings › Lines and motors › Tighten lines. The buoy goes still and rises; put the stringing stand under it and it lowers into the cup. Hold the buoy upright, press the knob, and keep holding until the display asks if all lines are tight. Then take the stand away, press the knob, and the buoy goes back to the sea.
SeaGlance looks for new software once a day and installs it over Wi-Fi by itself, during the night rest if you set one. Settings › Software › Auto updates switches this off, and Check for update looks right away. Keep the power on until it restarts. If an update fails, the old software stays as it was.
In Settings › Wi-Fi and reset, Forget Wi-Fi clears the network so you can set up a new one. Factory reset clears all settings and starts the set-up again. It keeps the motor set-up unless you say yes to that too.
SeaGlance needs a USB-C charger of 20 W or more. A phone charger with less power can't move the motors. If the display says Charger changed, unplug the charger and plug it in again.
That is usually the sea: a flat calm buoy rocks very little. Choose a buoy in open ocean, or check the wave height on the display. Movement is scaled to fit the frame, so big seas look lively but stay safe.
More questions, or want to know more? Mail us at info@seaglance.eu.