some of you may remember a company from the pre-bubble burst days called quokka sports. quokka.com was initially created as content hub for extreme sports covering events like the whitbread challenge, around the world alone yacht race, the great trango tower ascent, america’s cup, and the marathon de sable across the sahara desert.
quokka.com was designed to engage viewers with programming that gives the audience control of the content to create a fully immersive experience. viewers could change camera angles in real-time as mountaineers were summiting a remote peak in china. in addition to great video content and editorial features, the audience would also have access to the athlete’s biometrics, telemetry, environmental data, and real-time results. the content was really unique. sadly, the now defunct company met a premature end due to limited broadband penetration in homes and a pretty half baked business plan.
i recently came across a program that nokia and burton snowboards launched that reminded me of what quokka sports was trying to accomplish a decade ago in creating a truly immersive sporting experience.
combining the technical expertise of nokia and burton, “push” is a platform that was jointly developed to provide visual data into what’s happening both physically and mentally to snowboarders on the mountain or in the terrain park. the program is built around five key data measurements; heart rate, rush, pressure, speed, and orientation. each data point was designed with the purpose of providing very specific feedback to riders that ultimately enhance their performance. it’s pretty inventive and i can definitely see the technology used in applications beyond sports. check it out!
