avyeyes.com

[GFP]

Hey all,

I want to share a new site that I've been working on: https://avyeyes.com

The idea is to allow anyone to quickly create and share avalanche reports in 3D. It's kind of like looking at an avalanche in Google Earth, but completely within the web browser and linkable/shareable from anywhere on the web. User's can zoom, tilt, rotate, and pan the 3D map to view avalanches from any angle. Clicking on the red avalanche path brings up the report with associated data fields, comments, and images submitted by the reporter.

Here are a handful of avalanches from Colorado (and some screenshots below showing the slides from different angles in AvyEyes):

05-24-2015 Red Peak, Gore Range: https://avyeyes.com/ktqfgc3h

05-11-2013 Mt. Ouray, Devil's Armchair: https://avyeyes.com/6o91ro60

11-21-2015 Berthoud Pass, 90s: https://avyeyes.com/1vc0mfao

05-11-2008 Coon Hill, SE Face: https://avyeyes.com/vsik4e4n

Each avalanche report is given a unique, randomly-generated 8-character ID and navigating to https://avyeyes.com/<8-char-id> will fly you directly to that avalanche. Each avalanche report also has Tweet/Share buttons that will post the unique report link to Twitter or Facebook.

You can also go to https://avyeyes.com (sans 8-char id), fly the view to a specific location of interest, and search for avalanches that have been submitted in that area. (although there aren’t many avalanches in the database yet... hopefully that'll change soon

The site is free, open to all, and can be used to display avalanches anywhere in the world.

I’m rolling out avyeyes.com and want to invite everyone to use it anytime you want to share/communicate an avalanche! Submitting a report is a simple two step process: 1) draw the avalanche path on the 3D map with the mouse, and 2) enter the avalanche details/images. That’s it. You can add as much or as little detail as you want.

Hit me up with any questions, comments, or ideas for improvement. Or email avyeyes@gmail.com

[MakersTeleMark]

When I click on those links I just get the logo and the spinning. Waterfox 43.0.4.

[Bunion 2020]

Pretty cool if enough people use it. The avalanche links work fine on my system. The homepage doesn't load.

Is there any plan for filters to screen out the umm kooks?

[GFP]

When I click on those links I just get the logo and the spinning. Waterfox 43.0.4.

There's a lot of javascript that's downloaded initially, so depending on connection speed, network traffic, etc sometimes it times out and gives up if it can't get all the js downloaded in a reasonable amount of time. Eventually it comes up though. You might need to try the URL a few times.

...I might need to look into a more aggressive caching/CDN strategy eventually.

[GFP]

Is there any plan for filters to screen out the umm kooks?

Short answer: no filters.

Longer answer: Reports are given a basic review and then approved. The review is just to weed out any blatant stupidity or intentional asshattery. Submitter's also self-rank their experience level, so you have a general idea of the knowledge level of the submitter.

[MakersTeleMark]

There's a lot of javascript that's downloaded initially, so depending on connection speed, network traffic, etc sometimes it times out and gives up if it can't get all the js downloaded in a reasonable amount of time. Eventually it comes up though. You might need to try the URL a few times.

...I might need to look into a more aggressive caching/CDN strategy eventually.

Loads in 3 seconds with Edge. Will not load in WF.

[klar]

not loading on chrome. sounds interesting though.

[nickwm21]

Very cool tool. Well done.

[PNWbrit]

OP have you seen this yet....www.avatech.com

[GFP]

not loading on chrome. sounds interesting though.

I've just recently (today) made some improvements to site loading performance. Namely implementing caching and compression. You might want to try again. Things should be getting faster. At least https://gtmetrix.com tells me it's getting faster

[GFP]

OP have you seen this yet....www.avatech.com

Yep. Same same but different.

[klar]

Loading now. How would I find avalanches if i don't already know where they are? I guess it wont search if you are not zoomed in under 10 km?

[GFP]

There are two ways to find avalanches:

1. Someone submits an avalanche and shares the https://avyeyes.com/<unique-id> URL with you (via email, forum post, facebook, twitter, text, whatever), or...
2. You fly the view to a specific area of interest (maybe a usual ski spot, or maybe a new area that you are thinking about checking out) and search.

In the second case, you begin with an area that you're interested in. The geographic bounds of the map view are essentially the first piece of search criteria. Only avalanches that occurred within the bounds of the map view will be returned. And you are correct that the view needs to be zoomed in to no greater than 10km above the ground when searching.

[summit]

Neat...

check SWAG though

R scale doesn't do halves

Needs the intentional unintentional modifiers for Trigger

Need the interface/failure designation (eg O for in the old snow)

[GFP]

Thanks, that's great feedback!

I'll change the R-scale to be whole numbers only. <--- That's done. Clear your browser cache and refresh to see the change

The omission of the cause modifiers for natural/human triggered slides was *cough* intentional. I wasn't sure if they added much value for most people. However, as you note, they are part of SWAG and should probably be included. I think I may go back and add them.

^^^ That's done too. The report now includes a field for the trigger modifier (r,y,c,u).

I do capture the interface/failure designation for avalanche reports (see attached screenshot). It's just not a search criteria field on the homepage.

[klar]

There are two ways to find avalanches:

1. Someone submits an avalanche and shares the https://avyeyes.com/<unique-id> URL with you (via email, forum post, facebook, twitter, text, whatever), or...
2. You fly the view to a specific area of interest (maybe a usual ski spot, or maybe a new area that you are thinking about checking out) and search.

In the second case, you begin with an area that you're interested in. The geographic bounds of the map view are essentially the first piece of search criteria. Only avalanches that occurred within the bounds of the map view will be returned. And you are correct that the view needs to be zoomed in to no greater than 10km above the ground when searching.

Okay, thanks. Personally I like being able to have a large scale overview of where incidents occurred, like so:



Knowing this area, that tells me that certain zones are problematic, while others are less so. In this case almost all incidents are above treeline in drier, more central regions, where there is a persistent weak layer.

[GFP]

Yeah, I see your point. The problem is that zooming out that far reduces the avalanche paths to little red zits on the map (or makes them impossible to see at all). AvyEyes is about visualizing the avalanche path, and to do that you need to be zoomed in to an altitude which allows the path to be visible.

It would be like using Zillow to visualize houses/lots but then zooming out to such a high level that the houses and lots are no longer visible. Although, like Zillow, I could progressively replace the avalanche paths with pins (or some other graphic) if the eye alt is above a certain level, then replace the pins with the path drawings once the view is zoomed in to that threshold level. I think that idea has merit. I'll make a note of it and maybe include it in a future release.