Abstract

Slope information is important for skiers when first visiting a ski area. This information is very useful for choosing the ski slope, especially for beginners. Additionally, facilities information about restaurants, general information, about the ski instruction school, toilet facilities and so on are indispensable for comfortable skiing. Each existing ski area provides this information using slope maps or restaurant information for skiers and snowboarders. This information, however, is not sufficient for selecting a ski slope fitting their skiing or snowboarding skill level. A slope map has directions and location information, but there is little real image information. The authors have endeavored to build up ski area information using image information on personal computers (PCs) and report some experiments showing ski area information, how to indicate this information more concretely related to physical sensation, using computers as compared to ski slope maps in existing ski areas. Computers have a database function and handle multimedia representations such as text, photos, video, sound, 3D graphics, and animation. The authors think that one of the most effective means is to display ski slope information using 3D animation on the PC. These techniques are useful in that they can clearly provide skiers and snowboarders ski area information. The authors will discuss some experiments illustrating these methods. Aus der Einleitung (geändert)