Set Tracking/Weather Reporting Water Skiing App

[zbod]

Hi all,

 

I am a sophomore computer science student who spends his off time slalom skiing while home. Given COVID-19, and my school transition to remote education, I’ve decided to begin a new project. Would there be a general appeal for an app that would do the following, all comments are appreciated:

 

1. Track your daily sets and report statistics over time

2. Track fin/boat settings for each set/pass

3. A visual implementation of a map that shows the weather and wind direction in relation to your slalom course. Offering insight into the precise ski conditions

4. Have the ability to login on any phone to access your information

5. Look nice and work effectively!

 

So, thoughts? This application could provide the data to change the way you train. If response boasts positively, expect a significant progress update very soon!

[BCM]

I was toying with the idea of something similar last season, but just a spread sheet with data entry. I think there could be value. My problem was that by the time I got home from the lake I lost motivation...

 

I was recently involved in developing some large scale data collection apps. Our process was to start at the end use and work backwards. In my experience when you start with data and end with the question you can never answer the question you are asking. I like to start with the question and design my data collection to answer the question.

 

Some things I think would be neat to see in graphical form:

Sets over time (annual total, total per month/week, etc.) How much did I ski and when?

Average and max performance over time. When is my peak in the season in terms of total potential and average performance?

How does setup alter max and average performance?

Pulling weather data based upon GPS location would be cool, allow for air temp or wind comparisons. Maybe add an entry for water temp?

Fields for boat and driver could be interesting.

 

As a complete data nerd (I'm a research scientist) I would be interested to have a way to export a .csv file with all of my data for further analysis your stats program of choice.

[503Kento]

Great idea, some initial thoughts is to include planning and goals for the day, set, season.

 

Journaling feature would be good so you can record how the set felt, what your mood is, etc.

[zbod]

I've considered most of these recommendations. I value your opinions, thanks for sharing. I feel as if the idea can only be expressed through visuals. I have built on some of the ideas you guys have mentioned already. I will soon release a preview of the user interface. I also believe this app could be used on and off of the water. Additionally, the app could notify users, reminding them to record their data, if it had access to their ski calendar.

[zbod]

I hope to propel this initiative soon. However, being a remote student leaves me with little to no remote employment options. I may look to starting a kickstarter campaign for a small amount to support the time I spend on this. All help is greatly appreciated. Excited to see what is to come.

[Horton]

the UI must be simple. less is more.

[zbod]

I totally agree. You will just have to wait and see!

[Horton]

@zbod I see a trend in software today where the designers try to make a swiss army knife out of every app. I would rather work with software that does one thing VERY well than software that can do everything but is cumbersome to use.

[KRoundy]

I agree. Simple would be better - and don't forget that many skiers do not run the course every set. I free ski the majority of the time, even though there is a course on our lake (we have to raise/lower it which is often the reason why we just free ski for a quick set in the morning).

[skibrain]

The Wind Alert app is my favorite quick look at local wind/temp. (Windsurfing app but works equally well forecasting the lack of wind.)

 

Logging daily ski activity would be nice. Currently happens analog.

 

 

[Bill22]

Agree with Horton, it needs to be super simple to log a set and advanced features need to be optional.

 

Ideally I would be able to log a set by just entering a date and click save. Then when I get home, have the option to enter all the other stuff (speed, line length, boat, ZO setting, water temp, other). The set log definitely needs an option to copy/paste a set then change one or two things and save.

 

It would be nice if the ski settings were in a different tab than the set log. Then when logging a set you could use a drop down to select setup x for this set.

[BraceMaker]

I need a wind speed and direction alarm clock. As is when I go to bed at the lake I set a dawn alarm to just look at the lake/trees and know if it makes sense to get out of bed.

 

Were on a bigger lake so depending on the wind direction and overall speed there are coves or protected shorelines I ski but I have to get up early look at the wind and water and go ya if we all hurry we can ski at the dock or its gonna be nice straight across etc.

 

Have it go SKI TIME real loud

[disland]

I suggest using GPS in a way such that it knows when I am at the lake and automatically populates the data. I dont typically take my phone on the boat but if the phone would keep track of my skiing automatically I would. If I have to enter the data I will never do it.

[disland]

One other comment/question, do folks really change their fin or boat settings so often they need to log them. If you do that may be a sign of a deeper problem LOL

[mfjaegersr]

Put me on the ‘eager-beaver/BETA Tester’ list.

 

Ability to add or link to a photo/video to a daily record would be helpful too: pic of the site, crew, or a PR-eatin grin...

[mfjaegersr]

@disland See the Fin DB app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fin-db/id1234631397

 

Silly you. ?

[klindy]

It would also be awesome to add event specific information/data for jumpers and trickers too.

[david_quail]

Definitely approach this with lean startup / SCRUM in mind.

 

You'll have a million and one feature requests ... people will want your app to brew them coffee and have it waiting in the dock for when they finish their set.

 

80, 20 rule applies.

 

80% of the value will be in 20% of the features.

 

Start incredibly small. Almost embarrassingly small. Test that with people. Go from there.

[BCM]

@disland - I ski behind about 4 different boats a week, each with a different speed control (PP Classic, StarGazer, StarGazer w/ ZBox, and ZO). For me, understanding if I am constantly skiing better/worse behind a given boat could help the way I take my sets behind that boat. I have changed my desired ZO setting exactly once.

[Adam Caldwell]

@BCM - couple important metrics to add to that list of variables you are listing is "octane" and 'driver'. lol

[BCM]

@adamhcaldwell - I am a research scientist, data analysis is my thing, I can get carried away... My thought is to collect enough data to understand what variable may be having an effect on my skiing. Just to know I skied well is one thing, to understand why I skied well (or not) is another. Understanding why takes data.

[MattP]

@BCM then you should also be tracking food intake, sleep, exercise ect.. too many factors to track.

[OSSKI]

Hi ballers – I was delighted to come across this thread. This seems like an appropriate time to announce the launch of Swervetracker

 

I’ve been using the quiet winter months to develop an app that does just this. It is effectively complete and will be live in a few days time.

 

@zbod – awesome to hear you’ve thought about this too! We're obviously quite some way down the line, but please do DM me if you might be interested in helping us with developing Swervetracker further.

 

Key features:

- Log a set easily in less than 60 seconds, including each pass, water temp, wind speed, driver, lake, zero off setting, fin settings, and of course a log book of your personal notes.

 

- We have made extensive use of pre-populated fields to make this process FAST

 

- Review your progress across a range of charting and data analysis

 

Following up soon:

- Set up handicapped leagues with your ski buddies to spur each other on!

 

I will start a new thread for feedback and include some teaser images – it’s great to share this with you all.

 

Owen Shirley

 

[Jmoski]

Love seeing app development for the waterski community.

 

We ski with a GoPro to capture the passes and my ski partner has written software to:

 

- automatically pull the videos and telemetry data off the GoPro and upload to a Azure web site

- Automatically trims the sound out (to save space)

- Automatically trims the video so you only have the actual pass through the course

- Pulls the speed from the telemetry

- Has support for capturing notes per video

 

In progress work includes:

- training AI image recognition Algorithms to recognize rope length (by color) and who the skier is and automatically tag the metadata onto each video

- Plotting/graphing your path through the course.

 

He is open to sharing the code repository if others want to contribute/collaborate on it. Send me a DM and I can connect you.

 

It’s pretty cool - we ski in the morning before work, and by the time I shower and get into the office, all of the videos are already up on site ready for me to review.