As many folks know, I am always looking for leading edge examples of Digital Swarm apps that integrate social + mobile + sensing. One that I recently spotted comes out of colorado ski resorts from snow.com called EpicMix (http://www.snow.com/epicmix/home.aspx). It allows skiers of all ages to immerse themselves in a social and competitive skiing experience with others on the mountain. It is based on a RFID-enabled lift ticket that automatically tracks the skiers path around the mountain and logs points (or Pins) for each activity completed and vertical feet skied. Through the app, skiers can see where others are on the mountain and what their achievements are that day, month or season. They can also post and update their pins on facebook or twitter to share with friends. They have added a privacy protection feature for kids under 13 as well. So they app integrates sensors (RFID), real-time mobile access/updates, and social networks, key ingredients for a Swarm App.
What would be the next logical step is to add precise location to not only know what lift, but also what specific slope a skier is on. This could be done with proximity tags in the chip and along the slopes (like Zigbee) or GPS chip in the lift ticket or skiier phone (which most people have with them. you would just need to enable location in the app) This would also allow you tie into location-based social apps like Foursquare or Gowalla more easily. Also, with headmounted cams like Looxcie (http://looxcie.com/), it would be cool if skiiers could share real-time video feeds on the same app. Tying the points to things you could buy or discounts on your lift pass would be nice. Lastly, the next step beyond RFID would be NFC for the lift ticket to allow integration with mobile payments so skiiers could easily buy food and accessories without digging for their wallet.
These are great WIBNI's (Wouldn't it be nice if?), but EpicMix is off to a great start already. Can't wait to hit the slopes again next winter with my Swarm!
What would be the next logical step is to add precise location to not only know what lift, but also what specific slope a skier is on. This could be done with proximity tags in the chip and along the slopes (like Zigbee) or GPS chip in the lift ticket or skiier phone (which most people have with them. you would just need to enable location in the app) This would also allow you tie into location-based social apps like Foursquare or Gowalla more easily. Also, with headmounted cams like Looxcie (http://looxcie.com/), it would be cool if skiiers could share real-time video feeds on the same app. Tying the points to things you could buy or discounts on your lift pass would be nice. Lastly, the next step beyond RFID would be NFC for the lift ticket to allow integration with mobile payments so skiiers could easily buy food and accessories without digging for their wallet.
These are great WIBNI's (Wouldn't it be nice if?), but EpicMix is off to a great start already. Can't wait to hit the slopes again next winter with my Swarm!
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