Dynamic visualisation of ski data: a context aware mobile piste map

Tourism has been a key driver for mobile applications. This short paper presents the design and initial evaluation of a mobile phone based visualisation to support skiers. Paper piste maps often prove difficult for skiers and provide no natural way of assessing the mountain conditions while on the slope. They are physically large and difficult to manipulate in wind, they provide no information on which runs are currently open, no indication of which runs the user may find most enjoyable, and no information about the snow and weather conditions on each run. All this information is available at resorts, usually on notice boards or screens at central meeting points. The visualisation and personalisation approaches presented here combine this information and a map overview on a mobile phone screen. Initial trials showed significantly better performance for some tasks on the mobile condition (both in terms of accuracy and time), with no clear result for other tasks.