An American figure skater uses an AI-powered app, OOFSkate, to analyze his jumps, potentially revolutionizing figure skating training and scoring by providing instant feedback on technical aspects like rotation and landing quality. The app aims to automate the technical judging of the sport, leaving artistic scoring to human judges.
American figure skater Andrew Torgashev was at an invitation-only camp organized by U.S. Figure Skating not long ago, a chance for elite athletes preparing for the high-level Grand Prix season to work out any flaws in their performances.
He tried a quad toe loop, a four-revolution jump where skaters launch from the back outside edge of their blade with the help of a toe pick from the other foot. The jump itself is the easiest of skating's six primary jumps, but four revolutions ups the difficulty.To the naked eye, Torgashev landed it perfectly. To the camera watching him, Torgashev landed a quarter-revolution short.It was a small error, to be sure, but the kind that could make the difference in whether Torgashev medals in a sport where tenths and even hundredths of a point matter. And he knew instantly thanks to feedback he received from the camera — or, more accurately, the app it was running, designed by a pair of computer whiz kids with no background in skating, but who saw in the sport a chance to not only help athletes in training but perhaps someday assist in the actual scoring of competitions.The app is called OOFSkate, and powered by AI technology it analyzes from a tablet or mobile phone a skater's jump height, rotation speed, airtime and even landing quality. It provides skaters with feedback without having to wear sensors or other technology."Our vision for the system is to automate the technical calling of the sport," said Jerry Lu, who along with his old college roomate, Jacob Blindenbach, have built out the system. "This manifests itself in a combination of using AI-assisted computer vision, but also the knowledge of figure skating, essentially taking out the stuff that should be judged without subjectivity."In other words, let humans judge the artistic side of the sport. Let computers handle the technical stuff."What are the things that go into a particular jump? We're trying to measure those things as a semi-automated technical assistant," Lu told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of this week's Grand Prix Final, one of the premier events in the sport. "But also, it's a coaching tool that teachers around the country can use to evaluate their own athletes."The system itself seems remarkably simple: It uses a phone or tablet camera to capture a skater in motion, then overlays the key points of a jump or spin — the idealized version of a given element — and records the metrics that technical pane
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