Cognitive Design Application Idea: Ski-Teacher
Skiing is one of the oldest and simplest sports in the world. All you need are two pieces of wood, a bunch of snow, and a pretty big hill. In my personal experience skiing (a single time in Colorado), I thought it was one of the most difficult things I’ve tried. There are new people that try to learn how to ski every day, and many need to use instructors in a group or private setting to really learn the basics. Then all the fun of the sport can be enjoyed safely and people can start to get better. Most of these instructors are great, but they could bolster or even replaced with the Ski-Teacher. I would personally enjoy an application like this because of my really poor skiing skills, but also since I want to learn and get better at the sport. Ski-Teacher would use a mobile application, a variety of motion sensors, and a really cool visual feedback system via the ski goggles.
The mobile app would be simple and provide information, especially on weather and current ski conditions. But the most important buttons would be learn and receive feedback. This would allow the user to pick up their current training session or start learning how to ski from the beginning. The learning would all be cognitively based and initiate with the most basic activities while recommending the simplest areas to practice. Once the user becomes more skilled, their “level” will increase and offer up harder skills to learn. It will also focus on areas of weakness to make sure the user isn’t forgetting any skills. Finally, the receive feedback option wouldn’t try to help the user learn new skills, but it would allow them to do whatever they want on the ski slopes and provide continuous feedback on how they’re doing compared to proper skiing form.
In order to get all this data to provide feedback and help the user, Ski-Teacher will come with sensors that can be attached to the skis and ski poles. These sensors will collect data on acceleration, movement, and orientation of the equipment which will be transformed into something the user can understand regarding their current speed. The data could also be compared to other skiers that have used the same slope and use this to provide the feedback.
All this data exists with the Ski-Teacher, and it will be implemented visually through the ski goggles. The goggles will have a heads-up display that the user can see and also interact with using their eyes. The concept is very similar to Google Glass. The eye movements will also be tracked and connected to the data which will provide feedback since this is an area that could potentially be improved on the user’s end.
The goal of Ski-Teacher is to help new or pro skiers improve their skills since there is always improvement that can be made. The users would benefit because they could get receive lessons whenever and wherever with a tool that could totally adapt to their current environment.
