Competition & AI Tech Update: June 2022 Recap

Hey Zwifters!

Welcome back to another (slightly belated) edition of our Competition & AI Tech roadmap update. This will cover the progress we have made in June.

The goal is to provide insight as to what we are working on surrounding competition and what’s on deck in the coming months.

The post will cover these sections:

  • What can you expect in the next release?
  • What is Zwift working on now?
  • What is the status of feedback the community provided?

As always, we welcome your feedback on this post! To make sure we capture it all in this moment in time, we will be auto-closing the post 7 days from the original post date.

Let’s get into it!

What can you expect from the next release?

Release version 1.27 includes:

  • Event Hardware Minimum Requirements: the necessary changes to test this feature for the first time in the weeks following the release. Keep your eyes on the forum for an update soon!
  • Bug fixes: Some fixes around Pace Partners and Alpe du Zwift sector times.

What is Zwift working on now?

  • Improving fairness in racing through:
    • Event Hardware Minimum Requirements - the ability to race against other Zwifters that are on similar hardware: i.e. power meter users against other power meter (crank, pedal, trainer, etc.) users; classic trainer users vs other classic trainer users.

What is the status of feedback the community provided?

  • Discovery : Early in the process
  • Backlog : It’s on our radar and some work has been done
  • In Progress : It’s actively being worked on
  • Done : Released

Community Feedback & Status

Improving Fairness in Competition:

  • Extending all leaderboard PR data beyond 30 days - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Hardware Restriction - In Progress (public testing to occur post 1.27)
  • Category Enforcement: implement UI informing why certain categories are visible - In Progress
  • Category Enforcement: implement UI showing when an event is using CE - In Progress
  • Race Results Scoring - In Discovery
  • Category Enforcement as an option in clubs - Backlog
  • Custom category limits when using Category Enforcement - Backlog

AI Tech:

  • Pace Partners as event leaders - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Event Pace Partners: Alpe du Zwift PR pace events - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Expand Pace Partners: incorporate previous tests to global schedule - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Pace Partners: finalize pace selection - In Progress
  • Pace Partners home screen UI improvements - In Progress
  • More nuance and dynamism with Pace Partner behavior - Backlog

Competitive Experiences:

  • Time Trials: improve in-pen pre-event experience for TTT - In Progress
  • Time Trials: improve event join experience for TTT - In Progress
  • Time Trials: allow pedaling in pen ahead of TT start - In Progress
  • Time Trials: expand route selection for TTT/ITT - In Progress

Miscellaneous:

  • Survey: add the ability to surface post-ride feedback survey after events - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Survey: localize the post-ride feedback questions - Done :white_check_mark:

Bugs:

A note for bugs: this update is from a limited perspective, and will not be always representative of everything affecting events, segment results, etc. These bodies of work focus most directly on competitive events, Pace Partners, and the future of competition at Zwift.

  • ZwiftPower: users with exceptional height/weight are incorrectly DQd - Done :white_check_mark:
  • ZwiftPower: age of U23 riders not displaying correctly on profile - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Alpe du Zwift: sector PRs can not show - Done :white_check_mark:
  • Pace Partners: red squares can appear over the avatar model - In Progress
  • ZwiftPower: using “days to show” in filters for series breaks - Backlog
  • ZwiftPower: heart rate can show in profile page results but not specific race - Backlog
4 Likes

Thanks for the update.

Are you looking at the facility to remove rides from CE calculations. I know of a couple riders recently effected by faulty/new trainers that has skewed their category from one event that has now meant they have taken a step back from racing for a couple months.

5 Likes

How can such instances (in general, not your specific cases) be verified as genuine and worthy of removal from the record? Mishaps such as poor/incorrect calibration are down to the rider, surely.

Similarly, simply changing hardware can’t be a valid justification for reversing a “bad” result and unwanted cat change. How do we know which trainer (old or new) was producing the most accurate data?

Genuine issues are likely very easy to spot since the variance to a riders normal power should be very obvious. A very obvious example would be a rider putting out A category power on Zpower switching to a smart trainer with much more accurate measurement and actually being C, an example like this was posted yesterday. Zwift know the power source so can verify the rider has changed from Zpower.

2 Likes

Yes, but what about a rider switching from Smart Trainer brand “X” to Smart Trainer brand “Y” and finding that his power metrics are different resulting in a CE change?

Similarly what about a mis-calibrated trainer? Is that going to be a valid justification for having a cat change annulled?

it’s less about being 100% accurate to real life ability as we know that will never happen while riders use so many different trainers and more about putting them in a category that is competitive and accurate to their current ability/setup. So if you were a cat A on trainer X then got trainer Y and can now only produce cat C results it would seem fair to be to be able to downgrade. This is the current system with ZwiftPower.

Same for miscalibrated trainer where it’s clear something has gone wrong it seems a bit unfair punishing a rider for 2 months that would discourage them from racing.

Each case would need considered individually, i’m not talking about a rider that differs by 0.1-0.2 w/kg only where there is a clear difference in ability or outlying result from a miscalibration.

It’s not like Zwift and/or manufacturers also dont cause problems beyond user control.

Would love to see this in the next 2 months before the Indoor season starts for Northern Hemisphere.
IMO this is the best way to tackle the sandbagger problem as each individual organizer can set there own limits.

Also looking forward to Event Hardware Minimum Requirements…big thumbs up.

Race Results Scoring…is this within the Zwift App for the Racing Series?

2 Likes

We have it working already and have tested it extensively. We just don’t yet have the process in place to make sure it’s all easy for folks that need to contact us to do. It should be coming soon!

5 Likes

I’ve used this already successfully.

2 Likes

Hi @xflintx, I’d be interested to know some firmer timescales around the TT / TTT improvements. This was first mentioned as being worked on in the April update, and ‘In Progress’ within the May update… We’ve got to be getting close now :crossed_fingers: Maybe if you could select one of the options below: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

  1. The aim is to have this ready/released before or with the next major [1.28] update

  2. The aim is to have this ready/released before the end of September

  3. The aim is to have this ready/released during [north hemisphere] 22/23 indoor season

1 Like

This work is all about 90-95% finished and we’re in the final testing phases to make sure it’s all good. The aim is for fall/winter usage in full swing. As for the initial launch date, nothing concrete (we’re still nailing that all down) yet but you’ll be able to enjoy the improvements quite soon I assure you.

4 Likes

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