Virtual Moves Patterns

[FigureSpins]

The arrows that led me through the Ikea store/maze weren't painted on the floor - they were projected using a small overhead projector the size of a camcorder.  I've seen the spirograph lights at the rink and movie theater lobbies that use similar technology.

Of course, I thought of Figures and Moves patterns.  There are some drawbacks (knowing how many lobes the skater intends to skate, not looking down, connecting the lobes) but it was an intriguing thought that kept my mind awake all the way to DC.

Have you ever seen something and thought "How can this be used for figure skating?"

(Backstory: I made Ikea one of my rest stops during my 9-hour commute last week.  Love their cafeteria and the bathrooms are always clean!  It was pouring rain outside, so walking the Ikea Rat Maze was a good way to get some exercise after lunch before resuming my trip.)

[riley876]

Could you successfully project white light onto white ice, with white overhead lights blazing?

A red (or green) laser on the other hand might project better.   My inline rink (in a desperate attempt to enact the compulsory roller disco vibe) has some laser projector things, that can draw arbitrary patterns and words on the floor.    I'm sure someone claims it's perfectly safe, but catching an eye-full of it isn't a pleasant experience.

[Bill_S]

Hmm,  I love the thinking here.

Think of how some Google glasses with the right app might work in a rink situation. They could display a pattern seen only by the wearer of the glasses.

Virtual reality excludes the outside from view (not useful here), but a set of Google glasses with their heads-up display technology could work.

The technology exists now. Someone might sit down and make an app to do this someday.

[riley876]

You'd want it to be VERY low lag.   We rely so much on visual clues for our balance on skates (try skating with your eyes closed sometime!).   So any lag would be a major problem.

Also you'd need a very accurate "room-GPS", that I'm not sure exists yet?

[icedancer]

This is so cool!

We used to think about this all of the time for dance patterns - whether they could be projected from the ceiling.

Also Moves and Figures - makes total sense - especially since there are no "patch" sessions I understand that today's skaters have very little sense of circle and arc and their importance in figure skating.

[riley876]

Here's another tack:    What about a little robot that draws the pattern on the ice?    Though again exact navigation could be a problem...

[icedancer]

Magic Markers!!