Learn Street Skateboarding through 3D Simulations of Angle Rotation

Introduction In a recent survey in the United States, skateboarding was found to be the third most popular sport among teenagers, after football and basketball (Wysaski, n.d.). Skateboarding has grown in popularity over the last few years but there remain a number of people who do not know how to skateboard. Moreover, for the more advanced skateboarder, learning tricks is facilitated by watching other people skateboarding, i.e., either in real time or from recorded videos. All skateboarding tricks were invented by enthusiasts who desired to build a repertoire of tricks and develop a particular skating style of their own. There are countless tricks in skateboarding; an example of a well-known one is the 'Ollie'. The Ollie was invented by Alan Gelfand. He would slam his back foot down on the tail of his board and jump, launching himself and the board into the air and land smoothly on his board again (Figure 1). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] For spectators and beginners, the Ollie can be difficult to imitate. A question which may come to their mind is "How on earth do they do that? " Modern skateboarders seem to defy the laws of physics--but the truth is they use the very same laws to their advantage. Moreover, physical laws such as centripetal force, rotational inertia, or work are far from their minds when they design and execute these 'tricks'. Skateboarders use their inherent talents, most of which stem from long hours of practice. Perfect execution entails even more hours of practice. Therefore, it can be said that the better the tricks are performed and executed, the longer the hours that are poured into mastering the moves. It came as no surprise to the authors to know that filming a skateboarding video could take almost a full day. A perfect execution is comprised of a combination of extreme tricks and, more often than not, requires at least 10 trials. In brief, learning skateboarding is about practicing the tricks repeatedly. Furthermore, we observed that skateboarders learn their tricks by looking at how other skateboarders do their moves. They learn from fellow skateboarders who are usually friends because it is the most feasible way to do so. In the absence of a superior to learn from, beginners improve and invent new tricks by watching videos and/or searching the Internet for tips and tricks and attempting to apply them thereafter. If mastering the trick remains a challenge, the only way to learn is by looking at it or watching another skateboarder. This study seeks to provide an inventive and effective way to learn skateboarding through an interactive 3D simulation. The remainder of this paper is outlined as follows: Firstly, the current problem encountered by learning skateboarding through available means is surveyed and a proposed solution is presented. Secondly, an existing medium for the proposed solution is examined. Finally, the paper discusses how to design, implement, and test the proposed solution. Problem Description The traditional way of learning skateboarding entails the giving of basic trick instructions by using 2D drawings. Each step of a trick shows foot movement while the skateboarder is in the air. This method could be useful in learning the trick but lacks important details such as the stance and the foot position on the board. Figure 2 is an illustration of the method. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] Unfortunately, learning from available means like skateboarder videos or short films broadcast over the Internet, e.g., on YouTube, can sometimes prove to be insufficient as skateboarders will naturally have difficulties, which may be different from each other. Some inexperienced skateboarders may even find themselves unable to appreciate the technique presented in video format including its execution. We have observed that some people assume that they can learn different tricks by playing skateboard video games on consoles. …