French Alps ski resort uses AI piste to teach beginners
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A French ski resort is using artificial intelligence to help novice skiers learn the basics before heading onto the pistes.
The device in the Orres resort (Hautes-Alpes) in south-east France simulates various scenarios with users inside on an indoor artificial slope allowing them to experience how to move.
The room has screens that can simulate travelling down various slopes at the resort helping the novices to feel comfortable in different scenarios.
Cameras and drones in the room help place the skier in the video being projected, allowing them to adjust their position.
The aim is to help those who have never skied before to overcome any fears and learn essential skills before a real-life ski scenario.
Beginners are said to particularly benefit from the lack of other skiers around them.
It is proving a hit with new skiers and trainers at the resort, who say it is helping improve confidence for those who have not skied before – a demographic that makes up around 20% of
visitors for them.
“The benefits are immense: it enables beginners to acquire their first skiing reflexes at a pace that suits them, and the results are twice as fast as on the piste,” said instructor
Sébastien Aubert to Le Figaro.
Whilst two other simulators exist in France, one is used for high-level training (Passy, Haute-Savoie) and the other is in Nîmes (Gard), making the one at Orres the first for beginners
situated in the mountains available for all.
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The artificial slope is located inside, with enough space for an instructor and a small group to practise on.
This slope moves, being able to mimic the gradients and sensations felt on real pistes and has a barrier at the end of the training section for people to hold on if they need to. It also has
a wet sensation, mimicking the feeling of snow on the user’s skis.
Lessons in the simulator cost around €70 per hour with an instructor.
Read more: France’s only free ski slope closes: Which are the most ‘at-risk’ resorts?