Heads Up!: Towards In Situ Photogrammetry Annotations and Augmented Reality Visualizations for Guided Backcountry Skiing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a system that uses photogrammetry and augmented reality to improve safety communication in backcountry skiing through in situ annotations and visual overlays.

Contribution

It presents a novel integrated system combining photogrammetry, AR visualization, and in situ annotations for enhanced safety communication in backcountry skiing.

Findings

Prototype demonstrates effective hazard communication

AR overlays improve skier awareness of hazards

Participatory design enables user-centered improvements

Abstract

Backcountry skiing is an activity where a group of skiers navigate challenging environmental conditions to ski outside of managed areas. This activity requires careful monitoring and effective communication around the current weather and terrain conditions to ensure skier safety. We aim to support and facilitate this communication by providing backcountry guides with a set of in situ spatial annotation tools to communicate hazards and appropriate speeds to the ski recreationalists. A guide can use a tablet application to annotate a photogrammetry-based map of a mountainside, for example, one collected using a commercial camera drone, with hazard points, slow-down zones, and safe zones. These annotations are communicated to the skiers via visual overlays in augmented reality heads-up displays. We present a prototype consisting of a web application and a virtual reality display that mirror the guide's and skier's perspectives, enabling participatory interaction design studies in a safe environment.