Way back when I was in high school, I loved to skateboard. I still skate every so often, but not nearly as much as I used to. Though I am not as active in the skateboarding scene as I once was, I still pay attention to skaters I like, the trends, and the technology. From my somewhat outside perspective, it seems like there has been a plateau of sorts, technologically speaking. Sure, thigs pop up from time to time, but more often than not, these are just novelties. The last truly revolutionary product, built specifically for skateboarding, was Bones Swiss Ceramic Bearings. Aside from that, the major breakthroughs have almost all been products adapted into skateboarding. The GoPro for example. That said, I was pretty excited when I came across the Syrmo project on Kickstarter.
Just glancing at this device, it may be confused for a fancy riser. However, the Syrmo is much more than a riser. The Syrmo is a smart pad, built to track the movements of a skateboard. On top of tracking the movements, the Syrmo has a companion app. The app has two major components: mapping the movements of the board, and video filming and editing.
Automatic Video Edition: Create cool ready-to-share videos instantly! Whenever you shoot a video using your phone’s camera, Syrmo’s app will trim the video to match the trick’s length and trigger a ramped slow-motion effect with perfect timing.
Session Tracking: Keep a trick-by-trick record of your entire session to analyze when you’re done. Review how many tricks you landed, how long your session was and how many miles you skated.
3D Replays: For every trick in your session, get a rad 3D replay of your board’s movements. Zoom, pinch and rotate to analyze your trick from every angle.
Amazing Stats: See how your skills evolve over time. Gauge metrics like your vertical height, hang time and how much force you apply when you jump.
Geo-localized Tricks: All the tricks you land are geo-localized. That means you can share skate spots with your friends and discover new ones. Never miss out on a cool venue again!1
This is truly one of the most badass things I have seen. A piece of hardware that syncs to your phone that automatically edits video based on tricks. Check out the video below to see the Syrmo in action, and head over to their Kickstarter page for more info. You can grab one right now for a pledge of $59.
