We (the team at Clever°Franke) created a live data visualization during the Freestyle BMX Dutch National Championships competition. Utilizing sensors placed on the bikes, we captured the motion and movement of the competitive BMX riders. As the UX designer on the project, I was responsible for researching and establishing how the experience would incorporate in to the flow of the event, as well as sketching ways to visualize the data and creating the structure, flow, and interface concept for the big screen and the jury experience.
My role:
UX Designer
2018
A few weeks before the BMX Freestyle Dutch National Championships in Eindhoven, we were asked to create a sensor driven live data visualization experience for the spectators and jury of the event.
The Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) is the umbrella sports association of and for cycling in the Netherlands. In preparation for the 2020 Olympics, the KNWU wants to attract sponsors for the Dutch BMX team and show that BMX Freestyle is a professional sport
Visualizing live BMX rider data presented a technical challenge to our team but also an opportunity to explore and reveal insights into rider performance. Targeting live spectators, jury members, and riders, we created an engaging visualization that tracked the rider throughout their performance enhancing the overall event experience for the Dutch national championships.
Using two sensors, one on the front of the bike and one on the back, we were able to visualize the position, acceleration, height, and rotation of the rider. Using these multiple inputs we've were able to accurately show the path of the rider.
Our partner, Urban Sports Performance Center used two Pozyx sensors on the bike to communicate over Ultra-wideband to 9 anchors that were placed around and above the BMX park. That data was processing into position data in near realtime and published via MQTT to the visualization render application.
Because we wanted a highly graphical and high performing 3D environment in our visualization, we chose Unity3D as our rendering framework. This setup allowed us to visualize the rider in realtime without noticeable lag – crucial for presentation to a live audience.
We worked closely with KNWU and the jury for the event to understand and plan for the flow of the event. Our visualization would not only show the live data of the riders, but also the schedule, ranking, and results.
We took inspiration from the highly independent and grungy style of freestyle BMX riders. We experimented with a variety of visuals and textures to find the right look and feel that would also translate to a big screen experience.
While we waited for real rider test data we used an Xbox control to navigate the course and create our own path so that we could experiment with the design of the 3D space and path of the rider.
Once we had some screens we felt were on the right track we tested typography sizes, colors, and legibility on the screen that would be used on the skatepark.
The final design visualized the rider with four different views throughout their run and showed a recap visualization of their path through the park.
During the event we not only visualized the paths of the riders in real-time, but we also tracked and showed the schedule, rankings, what rider was next up, and sponsor screens.
The visualization helped guide the spectators through the event and gave an interesting focal point to the space.
Some ideas don't make it to the big screen. We ended up not having time to fully implement a specific visualization experience for the jury of the event. But we were able to meet with riders and jury members after the event and get feedback on our designs so that we could continue developing the platform in the future.
Team Innovation KNWU
"CLEVER°FRANKE helped us to think about how we can further develop the BMX Freestyle sport. The final result is a next level experience for spectators, riders and judges that helps us to put BMX Freestyle on the map as a professional and engaging sport."
We had fun developing the project and received a lot of positive feedback about the event as well as generating a large amount of media coverage.
