It was only a matter of time, really.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, matched with the surge in artificial wavepools, the two were bound to meet in some dystopian chlorine-fueled marriage.
But, perhaps it’s not so much Blade Runner or Terminator as one might expect. It’s more…Wall-E? As in the robots are there to help the humans…at least for now.
In a recent post from URBNSURF, the wavepool conglomerate behind the park in Melbourne and one on the way in Sydney, they introduced the new tech, writing:
“We’re absolutely rapt to launch our new partnership and collaboration with @flowstate_zone, revolutionizing the way you capture and utilise your surfing experiences.
“URBNSURF Clips by Flowstate films, edits, and organizes every wave of every URBNSURF point session so you can easily find, save, and share your epic surfing moments with friends or even virtual coaches.
“It’s the perfect way to relive your best waves and take your surfing to the next level.”
So, what exactly is Flowstate? It’a Melbourne-based company, specifically geared towards the wavepool marketplace, and specializing in AI-powered facial recognition software to capture surfers in the water, then use that footage to coach with.
Essentially, it’s just a baby step in introducing AI into the surfing space through machine learning video capture. It’s not robots surfing, or virtual reality surfing (looking at you, Zuck), or robots creating artificial waves based on the surfing experience and preference of a specific surfer. (But maybe that one’s not too far off?)
However, it’s still pretty interesting, considering that surfing, something so removed from the artificial world, has cozied up to tech in recent years – with computer generated surfboard shaping, wavepools, and now, AI-assisted surf coaching.
Makes one wonder…what’s next?
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