A technological snow park, allowing users to shoot videos of their performances, measure times, speed and body reaction during descents and jumps. Not a snowboard geek daydream or hallucination but solid reality, Hi-FIS, a prototype created by Motorialab, the startup from Trentino dealing in outdoor sports safety and technology.
«A snow park is a place where youngsters want to have fun – says Riccardo De Filippi, charter member of Motorialab -. The point of a technological snow park is to prevent accidents and critical situations».
The project was born from a CreatiFI tender, which allowed Motorialab to develop a Hi-FIS prototype, and tested for the first time in San Martino di Castrozza on March 28, when 10 snowboard enthusiasts were the first to experience the smart snow park.
«Thanks to the advantageous cooperation with Tognola ski area in San Martino di Castrozza – goes on Riccardo – we had ten young snowboarders test the prototype; we provided wearable sensors, a mobile phone serving as data collector and using GPS to localize the user along the track, while cameras installed in the park recorded them. The users were thus given an objective view of their performance, but our target still lies in the possibility to make the snow park experience both safe and pleasant. And all of this – states De Filippi – can be displayed through several different devices; tablet, mobile phone, televisions sets in common areas. And then, obviously, shared».
A new approach which obtained immediate success in the experimental stage and made the designers understand the main curiosities of the users. They are certainly interested in their performance, but in the quality of the experience as well, with an eye to safety. «The trajectory overview before and after the jump is the most requested feedback among users, being a fundamental datum to avoid falls and possible injuries».
The trial run in San Martino di Castrozza gave Motorialab opportunity to earn the users’ interest while, at the same time, observing the implementation potential and difficulties. The HI-FIS prototype is thus ready to face the final stage of production by the end of august. It will then have the opportunity to take part in the second stage of the tender as of October 2015, the phase dedicated to marketing and product commercialization.
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in Trentino-Südtirol, Italy