The new Cross Country App

Australian Eventers are now walking the course with iPhones instead of measuring wheels. We loved the new Burghley and Badminton app so when we heard that Stuart Tinney (gadget maestro extraordinaire - can it make coffee Stuart?) and Shane Rose were using this new Cross Country app, we thought we'd check it out - especially as it has been created by an Australian. Well, her name is Jose Diacono which sounds dinky-di to us........!!! The new app called CrossCountry creates a cross country course map with jumps overlaid on a Google satellite map, measures the course with GPS tracking and automatically calculates minute markers and beeps when it gets to one. You can add photos, videos, comments and striding for each jump. If you go wrong on your course walk, you simply use the eraser to retrace your steps. We asked Jose to fill us in a bit more

 

 

 

 

 

Who uses the app?

While it is based on complex mathematics, riders love the app because it is very effortless to use, fast and attractive. It reflects the way you walk a course, predicting the next jump number so you don’t have to type it in. This also alerts you if you have missed a jump. You concentrate on course walking, not battling with technology. Riders browse the course to remind themselves how to ride each jump before starting out. CrossCountry is being used by riders of all levels. It was tested by Olympic Gold Medallist Stuart Tinney.  Stuart and Shane Rose are both using it. Watch out for them at Adelaide. One of the earliest adopters, Technical Delegate Dr Vince Roche sees great potential for officials to use CrossCountry. As a TD, Vince told me he had never, ever got the same distance as the Course Designer but when he measured the course at Wallaby Hill last weekend CrossCountry gave him exactly the same distance “3625m absolutely on the dot”.CrossCountry is also is being used in the USA, UK, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Italy

Is it expensive?

iPhone apps come in a huge range of prices, from free to $999.  Most people are more familiar with the free ones which are written by companies   as part of their business (like supermarkets who want to tell you about special offers) or are covered by the event budget such as excellent Badminton and Burghley ones.  Some are $1.99 games that get their income from either millions of sales or from advertising. We decided our app should be a serious self funding project. We don’t think our users want ads popping up when they are walking a course. It has taken four months to develop and we will be ploughing back proceeds into further enhancements.  Looking at the value, CrossCountry means you don’t have to buy a $100 measuring wheel.  If it prevents you getting eliminated for missing a jump in one event it has paid for itself several times over.  Our users tell us they value it because it is convenient, a pleasure to use, enhances their performance and thus enjoyment of their sport. They don’t have to do maths to work out minute markers or use a cumbersome measuring wheel

What about the future?

We are working on a video which will be on youtube shortly to help people get the most out of the app. On the technical side we are testing it on iPad and  investigating software to transfer courses from iPhone to iPad which Vince Roche is keen to have. It will only create courses on iPads that have GPS. Others will be able to review courses on the bigger screen.

Who is behind CrossCountry?

It’s a family affair. I am the project manager and chief tester, my daughter Helen is the designer and subject matter expert being the serious eventer, son James is the mathematician and programmer. Helen and I share the marketing. We have been creating equestrian websites for about five years including the Sydney International Eventing one, but this is our first app.

Are you horse people?

Helen is the serious eventer with her thoroughbred gelding Max (aka Priceless).  My horse Secret is a trusty old stockhorse and we do the occasional Intro event. I spend more of my time volunteering on the committee of the Sydney International Three Day Event .

What have been the highs and lows of the project?

The highs have definitely been the field testing.  Our testers have been so enthusiastic and full of suggestions. We had riders of all levels and types – intro to 4 star, young and old, techno-savvy and techno-phobe.  Olympic Gold Medalist Stuart Tinney tested it exhaustively at the Sydney International Three Day event alongside his measuring wheel. Stuart gave us some excellent ideas which we incorporated (editing jumps and alerts). Dr Vince Roche who is an international technical delegate gave it its first international run at a CIC in Jakarta, Indonesia.   Vince is keenly awaiting the iPad version. The low was when the app was almost finished.  Helen’s horse Max got very ill with a liver inflammation and had to go to hospital for 10 days. We were driving 1 ½ hours each way to see him. He is home now and seems to be on the mend but he is not out of danger yet.

 

Design

It’s actually very hard to make something simple but Apple are the experts in this. They have a lot of user documentation to help you design for a good user experience. Human interface principles, User experience guidelines,      Element usage guidelines (how to design good icons). It’s a lot to read by it makes all the difference if you follow them.

Where did you get the idea?

I work in the computer mapping industry and was aware of some very clever GPS tracking applications. There have been some competitions for apps and I got an iPhone last November and started collecting them.  James had already written a challenging iPhone app and Helen is a very clever designer and subject matter expert. So that is our team. I am the chief tester and have spent many evenings walking around our neighbourhood with a head torch, iPhone and measuring wheel. Helen and I share the marketing. Helen does our facebook page.

How long did it take?

Four months. Smoothing out the spikes in the GPS took a lot of time and mathematical brain power.  You get random spikes from inconsistent GPS coordinates, for example if you receive an sms the first position you get afterwards may zoom off 30 metres away. I showed the app to a GPS government expert and he was very impressed with how it eliminated spikes. We tested it endlessly because it has to ultra reliable.

Have you enjoyed it?

Definitely. It’s been terrific to combine my business experience with eventing and to work with my two children. I have always been a stickler for technology being easy to understand and a pleasure to use and creating CrossCountry and seeing how enthusiastically people have taken to it has been hugely satisfying.

Do you use CrossCountry yourselves?

Of course! Our first test at an event was as Quirindi in August. It’s a 5 hour drive. We walked the course and got to fence 10, the app told us it should be fence 9 but I thought I must have forgotten to add a jump so we carried on. Next morning we walked the course again and the same thing happened. We realised fence 9 was off in a loop to the side. I reckon Helen would have completely missed it and got eliminated without CrossCountry. At the next event Helen quickly browsed all the jumps before she rode. She went clear both times. CrossCountry is available from the Appstore for $19.99.  For more details, check out the website  www.crosscountryapp.com