 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi Snowheads,
I’m from a team of scientists (and ski nutters) working to bring data analytics to skiing. Analytics are becoming increasingly important across a range of sports and we think there’s huge potential for analytics to improve ski coaching and instruction.
To get data relevant for skiing we’ve created prototype devices that look like boot warmers. You put them in your boots then, as you ski, all motion and pressure data is collected and can be reviewed on your phone. Using the system an instructor or coach can video the skier with an iPad, then view all the info about the skiers weight distribution and ski position alongside the captured video.
Would anyone be interested in checking out the app and giving us feedback? The app is still in beta so we need to send you a personal link to access it. Post here or PM me and I’ll PM you a link to get setup.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Here’s a screenshot from the iPad app.
Skier: Michael Backhouse, Location: Brentwood Ski Centre (thanks to both for helping us)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would be interested... scott at insideoutskiing ditto com
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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As a punter I could really see an application for this in high end coaching, particularly racers.
Try the guys at JJC, Impulse and their ilk...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks for the suggestions guys.
I've had a few questions about the app. Please note the current app is for iPad only. It won't work on any type of phone.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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How thick are your instrumented insoles ? There wouldn't be room in my boots for any extra thickness and I wouldn't want to ski without the current custom footbeds.
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@rjs Good question. We used to make insoles ourselves but testers complained about not using their own custom insoles. So instead we created a very thin layer of sensors reinforced with carbon fiber connected to a battery pack on the back of the boot (like a boot warmer but smaller). The current version is 2mm but we should be able to get this close to 1mm. Would that still be a issue for you?
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@jamiegrant, I've passed this to DHO racing this evening, the head coach is apparently very interested
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We've made a new version that will work with iPhones. It should work with an iPhone 5/6, maybe a 4 but we haven't tested it. It's a bit experimental, but it'd be good to hear any feedback you have on it. Just email or PM me if you like to give it a try. Here are some images of the iPhone version:
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@jamiegrant, I will pass the email along, curiosity however gets me asking what's the battery life like in cold weather ? Many racers train and run at very cold tems I've seen racers going out in -20C
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@D G Orf, The units don't use much power and we can get a decent size battery on them because the system is mounted outside the boot. You are right about the battery life, at -20C typical batteries have 50% capacity. Even accounting for this the current prototypes last 10 hours. We're still working on the final design and it's likely the power consumption will come down further as we optimise the circuitry.
This chart gives you an indication of how performance changes with temperature:
As you'd expect, it's a trade off between size of the unit on the back of the boot and the battery life. The best benchmark to consider this against is boot warmers. These use huge amounts of power compared to our electronics and so only last a few hours and still need quite big batteries. If we were to make the units as big as boot warmers we'd probably be able to get 50 hours in cold conditions, maybe 100 hours in spring skiing.
Would you prefer the longer battery life, or the form of a small unit more?
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@jamiegrant, good info re batteries.
I'm no racer or trainer but i'd guess training session where this data is actually captured are sub 2 hours per session, so from a battery and tech standpoint is the battery hot swappable and if so does it lose the data at point points of battery swap. Eg recording a 3 hour session, battery goes low state at hour 2.5 swap new battery and lose all previous date or kept with no gaps or glitches?
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You know it makes sense.
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With the current version all the data is kept on the skiers phone, so swapping the battery wouldn't be an issue. We could save data to the units, but it'd significantly increase the complexity of the device. Also, using the phone allows us to measure the movement of the upper body as well as the lower body.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I think for coaching they would probably want multiple sensors (one per racer) but I'm guessing the racers won't want to carry an iphone each, I still think it a good idea though.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@stuarth our whole team have engineering backgrounds - so we definitely appreciate the techno-geek engineer angle. If you are interested (or anyone else for the that matter) I can send some of the raw ski data we record.
We think our hardware could be very useful for racing coaches (in fact we are working with some Olympic coaches already), as it gives an objective measure of the shape of the skiers turn as well as a detailed picture of where the skier places pressure in the turn. Any feedback you have from you coaching friends is more than welcome, please let me know at j.grant09@imperial.ac.uk
I'll PM you a link to the example ipad app now.
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FAQ
), and would be interested in the thoughts of the coaches on what/how-much data and how it is processed/presented is useful to them. I also have a few thoughts
