This article was taken from the August 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The French skateboarders behind Krack want to turn your city into a quantified skatepark. "We attach a sensor to the board which sends data to your smartphone," says cofounder Kevin Straszburger, 26. "Then, on the smartphone, we've built an algorithm to recognise tricks, and a social network for skaters." The result aspires to be a real-world version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: arrive at a set of stairs, for example, and Krack's software will tell you not only what tricks you've landed (or stacked) in the past, but those of others. "I can see who was the first person to land a kickflip, and then try and land something better," he says. A lifelong skater, Paris-born Straszburger originally planned Krack as a Foursquare-like location map; then, encouraged by sensors such as the Jawbone UP, he and his cofounders pulled a 180° and began developing a prototype for the trick sensor. After successful stints in Paris-based startup accelerator Le Camping and Seedcamp in London, the group moved to Venice Beach in February to gather data from the local skating community.
The resulting 30g sensor uses an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer to track movement and rotation. Krack's algorithm then identifies fingerprints for each type of trick, recorded over thousands of repetitions. "We're able to recognise 15 tricks and we're working on more," says Straszburger. He's planning a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the first production models this summer, with a consumer roll-out expected later this year. "The more devices we put out, the more accurate the trick algorithm will be," he says. "We want to learn from every skater out there."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
