Visualizing Pedaling Forces on Cycling Training Videos

Kaplan Oral (1451124)


In this work, I aim to increase the benefits of charts in cycling training by combining them with video support to emphasize details and promote causality. I choose pedaling forces as the abstract data that needs to be visualized with videos. I think if I succeed in this research, in-detail evaluation of cyclist's pedaling technique and physical form can be performed more accurately and rapidly. With better evaluation and assessment in training, I believe cyclists and coaches can achieve better results in both domestic and international arenas of cycling.

For this purpose, I develop a prototype system that allows us to superimpose the data from a pedaling monitor system onto cyclist's training video which is captured by a camera simultaneously. I propose several different visualizations; some of them being designed and developed by me, and re-implement the visualization part of our prototype system according to each visualization's specifications. In this thesis, I briefly introduce the concept of my research and mainly explain our vision in detail by using the prototype system I develop.

Interviews that I did with twelve professional cyclists from a sports university in Japan revealed interest of participants towards my method and several aspects of visualizations that have been hardly considered by designers; such as the effects of mental and physical fatigue. Participants favored two visualizations over many others due to factors such as increased visibility, familiarity and simplicity.