Smart Ski Goggle UI

* Patent Pending

Problem

Imagine yourself sitting on a rickety ski lift, your legs still burning from the last run. Your teeth chatter as the chair bounds up and over the tower. You finally catch your breath as your friend leans over and says, "What run are we doing next?".

You pull out the trail map you got from the lodge this morning and begin to unfold it so you both can see. Eventually you figure out where your current lift line is on the map. He proposes White Heat, a double black diamond, for your next run. You respond, "I think we took that one already. Wasn't that the first run we did today? The one that had the giant section of ice all through the middle?". Just then, a bone-chilling wind blows through and rips the map out of your numb, frosted hand.

You're now without a map, and beyond that you can't remember which runs you've already done. You have no idea as to which runs have the best conditions. You're unable to tell which lifts or runs are too crowded today.

Research

I've always been a fan of Zeal Optics' early attempts to create a heads up display within googles, but I wanted to do something that was new, robust, and more of a complete solution to all common mountain woes.

After some searching, I came across some startup-looking companies that were pitching smart goggle interfaces, but they were all very cluttered, distracting, and focused more on the social features. They did not target the common problems, questions, and wish-list items of most skiers.

I started by defining a feature list from talking to other skiers about their mountain stories. From that list, I sketched out multiple ideas for each screen, focusing mostly on what I consider the red route or most important feature: run planning.

Concept

From this feature list, I brainstormed what different technologies the goggle would need to have to function: GPS, 3G data for weather and other data syncing, an altimeter, and so on.

Most importantly, I thought about how the user would control the interface. After looking across other industries for inspiration, I settled on a dial positioned on the side of the goggle that can be spun in either direction for fast scrolling or pressed inward to select. The dial would be surrounded by 4 buttons for finer up/down/left/right movement within the UI.

Beyond that, specifically for skiers, controls on the poles could also be added to enable the user to set their next run without ever taking their hands off their ski poles.

Prototype

Your device may be too small to adequately display this prototype in full. For a better experience, view on a large desktop screen if possible. If that's not possible, you can view the prototype on inVision for at least a slightly better experience.