Artificial Intelligence Comes to Surfline

Chances are: If you surf, you use Surfline.

And over the years, the leading swell forecasting giant has evolved. Ever since the days of 976-SURF – a phone number surfers could call to hear the report – Surfline has been advancing the way in which surfers score waves, watch live cameras, relive their rides through cam rewinds, and plot strike missions without fear of getting skunked.

Now, Surfline is back with another update to the platform – Premium+ , a new tier of subscription status with a focus on artificial intelligence wave forecasting.

“From day one, Surfline has been at the forefront of improving surf forecasting technology,” said Surfline CEO, Ross Garrett, in a press release. “By incorporating Smart Cam features into our product suite, we’re able to provide surfers with more in-depth data insights, helping them make more informed decisions based on their unique surfing preferences. The launch of Premium+ marks a major milestone in working toward making Surfline even more of a one-stop shop for surfers to plan their surfs, check live conditions, and review clips of their own waves.”​

So, what’s new? Well, a few features.

Wave Timeline gives users a snapshot of how conditions look over a window of time. Because, sometimes you check a cam, and it looks flat; but just minutes before, a bomb might’ve rolled through. As the Surfline team explains, the feature allows members to “quickly scrub through a bar graph that shows whether any waves broke or were ridden in a 20-minute period…so they can be more confident in their decision to go surfing or skip a session.”

Then, there’s Wave Distribution. This “graph shows the total number of waves breaking at each surf height, and how many of those waves are ridden.” Additionally, they’ll now be forecasting crowds. Based on conditions and forecast, the Surfline team will use AI technology to predict whether or not a spot will be more crowded or less in the coming hours.

Finally, there’s Smart Clips – basically an enhanced version of the already-beloved Cam Rewind feature. Functionality of this feature will make it easier to find your waves ridden during a given session, download them right from the app, trim and edit them right from the app, and shoot them off to your buddies…to incite jealousy, of course.

Premium+ is available in the US to web and iOS users. Check it out here .

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