We are just at the beginning of the ski season but remember asking your ski buddies if they saw how much air you got off that jump at the lift line. But now you can actually answer those questions, on the spot, in real time with the innovations of wearable technology. From different GPS watches, connected goggles to high-tech action cameras and smart helmets, skiing is the ultimate sport for wearable tech. There are numerous wearables to track your metrics while you rip over corduroy and weave through trees off-piste. So let WT | Wearable Technologies introduce you to some exciting products which will make your ski and snowboard trips to a unique experience.
PIQ Robot
PIQ, by Rossignol is a sensor which is strapped to the boot of the skiers. It’s quite small, lightweight, and the company is currently integrating it with a wealth of existing sports giants. The waterproof sensor gives the wearer an access to air time, edge to edge speed, rotation data, G-force and even carving angle. PIQ analyses your carving style by the millisecond. With PIQ you get to know how explosive you were from one edge to the other, how much angle and force you’ve put into each of your turns like angle, transition, and G-Force. It also records all of your jumps with jump-specific performance metrics including rotations, airtime or even G-Force at landing. After each session you can share your best carving and your winning factors with your friends with Rossignol and PIQ app. With this sensor and the app you get access to an intelligence you have never seen before on the mountains.
GoPro 5 Hero
The GoPro HERO5 Black Camera is the most powerful and easy to use GoPro ever. HERO5 Black can capture stunningly smooth video in Stunning 4K and make 12MP photos, in Single, Burst, and Time Lapse modes mounted to your favorite gear and much more. It also has voice control, one-button simplicity, touch display and waterproof design. GoPro HERO5 Black automatically uploads footage to your GoPro Plus cloud account to provide easy access on your phone. Then, you can create amazing videos with the special GoPro editing app, called Quik. The camera comes with the most advanced technology in a GoPro ever and the easiest to control, including hands-free control of your camera using simple voice commands, previewing and playing back your shots, changing settings and trim your footage, all on you’re Hero 5. It is absolutely the best GoPro out there to capture your skiing and snowboarding experiences.
Fenix 3
This multi-sport smartwatch by Garmin is a master of the slopes. This GPS smartwatch automatically tracks individually runs while recording speed, distance and vertical drop data. It also tracks the total number of runs and it has an auto pause for when you’re on the lift. The progression from the Garmin Fenix 2 adds an automatic run counter with auto pause support and as you’re on the way back up the mountain, you can instantly see how your run compared to others on that day. Through the fabric strap, you can wear it over your jacket and you can even use it as a remote control for Garmin’s action cameras. The Fenix 3’s main functions include an altimeter, barometer, compass, temperature gauge and, of course, GPS. It will also pair with your smartphone to show text messages, alerts, e-mails, weather and a host of other brilliant features. Now there’s something to do on the ski lift other than enjoying the view.
XON Snow-1
Cerevo´s Xon Snow-1 smart bindings are meant to turn all the devices into connected devices. The binding has opened up various possibilities in the snowboarding area. It includes balance tracking which is more advanced and better than the stereotypical stats tracking. There are four different load-balance pressure sensors in the sole of the binding. The sensors are meant to monitor your weight distribution on both sides, so you don’t face a hazardous fall. Also, there are two strip sensors the measure the flex of the board. The strip sensors will be beneficial to all those who prefer one leg over another, which totally defies all the principles of basic snowboarding. The Xon Snow-1 bindings can be connected to your iPhone or iPod through Bluetooth 4.0. On your Smartphone, you can see all the measurements of the weight distribution and flex via Xon app. The app apart from you results will also show you speed, distance, acceleration and altitude etc. With the help of GPS, the binding will also trace your route and will keep a note of it.
Forcite Ski Helmets
Forcite is the world leader in the development and integration of smart helmet products. Forcite’s custom hardware and software package called the “EON system” is adaptable for specific purposes and functions. It eliminates the need for externally mounted devices such as cameras and communication headsets allowing for the creation of the most sophisticated and safe smart helmets available. EON is a fully operational computing system capable of supporting high tech features such as communication, high definition video footage, head-up displays as well as compiling complex performance and analytical data. The Forcite Helmet System runs a proprietary software on the EON and also includes standalone application for iOS and Android phones. The phone applications allow the customer to access sophisticated configurations for the helmet, video footage, and monitor performance status. The Forcite software can be adapted according to the partner company’s needs.
It all started with special helmet-mounted cameras, but has now developed into an entire industry with exciting products. In previous years, skiing technology has often been focused on new forms of lightweight clothing fabric or new ski innovations, but now, winter fanatics have plenty of awesome wearable devices and perfect accessories specifically developed for winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. So have a lot of fun and enjoy winter season 2016/2017.
