Introducing the best kiteboarding sensors, their apps, their advantages and their inconveniences. On one side we have the WOO sensor and the other side we have the PIQ.
What is PIQ?
On one side we have the PIQ sensor released in July 2016 and developed by PIQ a French startup that has partnered with North Kiteboarding to adapt its sensor to the kiteboarding. This sensor already runs on other sports. For the Kite it records all the information of the jumps. It allows to know the height of the jump, the duration of the jump, the force on reception and the angle of rotation of the tricks in degrees. It is designed with a screen to instantly see the height of the jump.
It analyzes the data of 13 axes simultaneously. It calculates and interprets the information of the jumps with its algorithm. It is also equipped with a bluetooth connection to be able to transfer the data on Apple app or on Android app.
Discount
Univers Kite offer you a coupon to get free shipping for your PIQ sensor.
The promotional code to use is : UNIVERSKITE
Official website of the PIQ sensor
What is WOO 2.0?
On the other side we have the WOO sensor released in summer 2015 by Woosports company.
It’s a sensor designed to record jumps made in kitesurf for big air mode.
It allows to know the height of the jump, the duration of the jump and the receiving force at the landing calculated in G.
There is also a freestyle mode with the WOO 2.0 which makes possible to know the name of the tricks you just realized and to obtain a score. It analyzes the data of 9 axes simultaneously using an algorithm. It is equipped with a bluetooth connection to be able to transfer the data on apple app or android app
Official website of the WOO sensor
Difference between PIQ and WOO sensor
You have the WOO box very small with the notice inside and the PIQ box much bigger, clearly they do a completely different marketing
Inside the WOO box you have the sensor and the usb charger.
Inside the PIQ box there are instructions for use, the sensor, a usb charger that also makes battery, a replacement sticker for the support, the waterproof case and an activation card.
The WOO sensor is a waterproof sensor, that you attach on your board via a support.
It’s composed of a single green or red LED. It’s very minimalist, it blinks red when it is recording and green when it’s pending.
There is also the freestyle mode of the WOO 2.0. Freestyle mode means Wakestyle mode. It corresponds is mainly to make unhooked tricks or at least to be used only by making some tricks with the kite in low position because the jump is validated only if it takes less than 3 seconds
The PIQ sensor is flat and equipped with a screen . Once switched on, it immediately records the session.
The sensor is already waterproof. But it must be put in a protective case. I think they wanted to add a little more protection for waterproof and shocks and especially to protect the oxidation of printed circuits
The cool thing with the PIQ is precisely the screen and the ability to see the height of the jumps instantly after their realisation . Once the jump has been done the height is displayed on reception for some seconds. But if you miss this timing you can press the button to display it again.
You can modify the height from which you want the display, if you introduce 5m for example the system will display on the screen only the jumps above 5m.
The chargers are completely different
The WOO is very simple. Insert the WOO in his usb charger and you plug into a computer
The PIQ is designed with a usb charger with integrated battery which allows to charge the PIQ and the battery at the same time. You can then recharge the PIQ 3 times without the need to reconnect it to a plug.
The best of each sensor
WOO 2.0
With WOO you have the possibility of editing your videos to display the information of the jumps and to share them with your community. But at the moment it’s only available on Mac.
The WOO is already used for kiteboarding, wakeboarding, snowboarding and skiing
It’s a sensor that has experience and has evolved since its inception, the internal software, the support on the board or recently the release of a protective case.
The application is also in constant evolution with a very recent update. The application is highly social-oriented with already a large community of users. The opportunity to see the best in the community and our ranking compared to them brings us a little extra.
The WOO is for the moment very oriented sliding sports.
PIQ
To that purpose PIQ did develop their sensor for kiteboarding, skiing, tennis, boxing and golf. In addition they plan to deploy it on 24 sports.
We have a French startup associated with one of the most popular kiteboarding brands. This gives a more recent and more sophisticated sensor.
The PIQ application allows you to improve your technique in detail while comparing yourself to the best in the community.
The PIQ will eventually be a sensor offering much more sports.
