We live in a world where everything has Bluetooth crammed inside it and people want even their toothbrush to be turned into a smart device. It’s almost to the point where the term “Smart” means anything but. I don’t need my comb telling me how better to brush my hair; I don’t care for my fridge to tell me how much milk I have left; I don’t wan’t my pots and pans bitching at me in the kitchen. But now that I’ve said my peace, there is a lot of advantages to “Smart” devices, especially ones that can actually better you.

The SNOW-1 is the first in the new XON series from Cerevo that focuses on sports. This is one area where I have seen “Smart” technology really change things and provide calculable results. As an athlete ever advantage in your training can lead to massive results, so people and teams are constantly looking to technology to up their game. The SNOW-1 understands this and tackles an area of sport that is sometimes overlooked –Snowboarding.

The SNOW-1 is a two-fold device that includes a pair of “Smart” bindings and a connected application for phone and tablet. This combination lets you analyze your snowboarding runs as the data collected from the bindings themselves are processed and sent to the app in realtime.  The bindings themselves are solid devices that are built to last, but the best thing about them is that they don’t look out of place on the mountain.

The guts are tucked away nicely and the design is very clean and, well, smart. Snow is a pain even under the best of circumstances, and the SNOW-1 bindings can take the pressure of the cold and oftentimes wet nature of the activity. While flying down the mountain, or hitting the halfpipe the SNOW-1 record, visualize and analyse your run. All this is sent to the XON app via a neat little graphical UI. As is the case with Cerevo, the UI has a very futuristic look and feel, but is still easy to read and understand.

This data comes from five independent sensors that allow for thirteen different data points. There is a lot going on here and the amount of data that the SNOW-1 can collect is incredibly impressive. They can analyze your weight via the load sensors so you can understand exactly how you are distributing your weight on a run. This is really important to experts as they can see the exact points where they need to make adjustments on a trick or during a part of a run. This is also great for newer riders as they can learn just where they are going wrong.

The set also comes with a pair of flex sensors that attach to the front and rear of the board. These slim sensors allow the app to track board deflection. That’s a lot as it is, but additional sensors hidden in the bindings also handle and track acceleration, angular velocity and even some geomagnetism sensors. Cerevo really went all out with the amount of data that can be tracked with the SNOW-1. So much so that these bindings are probably for a pretty small niche group of riders.

As an average rider that just goes out for fun, the SNOW-1 are probably going to be nothing more than something fun to show off after a long day with friends in the lodge. Even for more expect riders they might be a bit too data heavy to make any sort of major ride change. Where the SNOW-1 really shine though, is from the perspective of a coach. Showing it off to some people that teach at various levels, the possibility of having on the fly data is very tempting.

Imagine a professional boarder working on tweaking their runs and tricks and having a coach that can interpret the data that is being sent in. In that respect the SNOW-1 has the potential to be a game changer for those that compete at all levels. And if you want a ittle bit of fun while your train, the XON app has a video mode so you can overlay your data onto your riding videos when paired with the upcoming XON REC-1 camera. This in and of itself might open up how people create YouTube videos and even instruction videos.

An speaking on the video portion, one thing that I really liked was the built-in LEDs on the heel and toe of each binding. These LEDs respond to the load level as you ride, but they look really great later in the day by leaving a neat light trail effect. This would make for some incredible trick videos for those out there looking to spice things up.

But while the SNOW-1 are amazing on a technical level, they might be a hard sale for practical uses. So much of snowboarding is about feeling and simply having fun that the average user isn’t going to need any other information and data the SNOW-1 provide. Cerevo is a company that does a lot of technology that pushes limits, but with that comes a very niche market.

The SNOW-1 are fantastic bindings in their own right, but at almost double even the highest end bindings, they are going to be a hard sell. If you love numbers and having control over everything then the XON SNOW-1 “Smart” bindings are for you, otherwise you may want to hold out and see if the professional crowd adopts them into their arsenal over the next year.

This is clearly a product on the high-end part of the spectrum, but that’s just how these things work. The technology that is being developed has to start somewhere and early adopters to any piece of kit always pay a premium. We like the SNOW-1 for what they do, but it comes as a recommendation to only high-end data-driven snowboarders. You can check out some video of the SNOW-1 in action below followed by a full spec sheet of the bindings:

Specs:

About Author

J. Luis

J. Luis is the current Editor-In-Chief here at GAMbIT. With a background in investigative journalism his work encompasses the pop-culture spectrum here, but he also works in the political spectrum for other organizations.

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