Wavegarden Engineers the Perfect Wave

Traditional surf pools force large quantities of water over a hump to create their swells. Problem is, waves fall apart the further they travel, making for a less-than-gnarly curl. So the Wavegarden builds a better wave, mechanically.

Rather than pump water over a ridge, which does nothing for creating the gnarly tubes surfers crave, the Wavegarden system pulls an fin-sled—like an airplane's wing but underwater—to water over the underlying seafloor (lake bottom, mall fountain, wherever) forming waves that fold over themselves and break like natural swells on a reef. Waves grow in height and energy the faster the submerged sled is pulled and can be modified at will. The available land area is the only limiting factor; the current prototype model can produce a 1.6 meter wave with a 30-second tube over a distance of 250 meters. Righteous, bro. [Wavegarden via Wired]