Dark Sky - Weather Prediction, Reinvented by Adam Grossman & Jack Turner » Human readable text summaries

Human readable text summaries

Update #3 · Nov 17, 2011 · 18 comments

Since launching the project, we've had a number of people come up to us and say: "Hey, that graph is sexy, but sometimes I might just want a quick text description of what the weather is going to do over the next hour."

For a while now, we've pondered that very problem. The thing is, a picture really is worth a thousand words. How do you boil down a squiggly complicated precipitation projection into a single sentence?

We've been working on it, and we think we've cracked the problem. The app can now generate text along the lines of: "It will start raining in 8 minutes, and stop 15 minutes later."

Check out the image below for some examples of actual output from this new system.

(So far, we're not quite sure how to best incorporate this text into the app. That's a problem for another day!)

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1. Creator Adam Grossman & Jack Turner on November 20, 2011
  
  KiltBear and Michael: Good ideas!
2. Creator AJACs on November 20, 2011
  
  +0 (now)...........+10 (3:45)............ +30 (4:05).................... +60 (4:10)
  | Light rain........ | Heavy rain......... | No precipitation........ |
3. Creator AJACs on November 20, 2011
  
  Similar to what Michael W. was saying: on the graph you could mark out the transitions, put a timestamps on the transition points, and between the transition points put the descriptive text like
  
  + 0 (now) +10 (3:45) +30 (4:05) +60 (4:10)
  | Light rain | Heavy rain | No precipitation |
4. Creator Michael Willick on November 19, 2011
  
  I think the easiest text aid to the graph would be a simple time stamp (hh:mm) for "now" (the current network time / starting point of the graphic) and the projected/displayed end-time (1 hours from current).
5. Creator Gene Bernardin on November 17, 2011
  
  I wonder if it will be able to indicate the difference between snow, sleet, freezing rain, mix??? Being in Connecticut the difference between those conditions can be significant for traveling. I'm not sure whether the app is able to make that distinction or not. With short term forecasts, it should be relatively easy based on the temperature (but I'm not the one doing the programming.
  Gene
6. Creator Ryan Naylor on November 17, 2011
  
  Great addition! If you would like to post an ad about Dark Sky on wosiya.com (a classifieds for businesses and individuals) feel free. Postings are also free and run 30 days. Otherwise, the text feature really adds to Dark Sky. Nice work.
7. Creator chris watts on November 17, 2011
  
  this sounds like a great way to read the weather. if it can work down here in australia, i have been converted .
  will be better with the spoken word as well as i and ,no doubt, a lot more like me, are vision impaired, so to hear the forcast will certainly enhance this app.....
  keep up the good work
  chris watts
8. Creator Ron W. Szpak on November 17, 2011
  
  Dear digital dude's,
  
  This is a "sweet and practical" enhancement!! A beautiful and elegant application of keeping focus simple, clear and to the point.
  
  Thank you!
9. Creator Andrew McLaughlin on November 17, 2011
  
  Perhaps the text could appear in the notifications feed?
10. Creator David Kuhnle on November 17, 2011
  
  I'm with you in thinking that graphing is the quickest way to interpret your data but I wouldn't complain about the added text for the graphically challenged. I guess its the way that people process information.
11. Creator Geoff Dudgeon on November 17, 2011
  
  This is really helpful. I think the picture is pretty (and more data rich), but the beauty of this application is its simplicity: When will it rain? For how long? -- without having to interpret a graph.
12. Creator Brian Anderson on November 17, 2011
  
  This project is fantastic guys, I haven't been this excited about a weather app in a long time. Looks beautiful!
13. Creator Dan Harris on November 17, 2011
  
  Yes! A notification is the way to go!
  
  Thanks for your efforts.
14. Creator Adam Grossman & Jack Turner on November 17, 2011
  
  Pie-in-the-sky dreaming: Eventually Apple will let 3rd-party developers integrate into Siri. Imagine this simple conversation:
  
  You: "Hey iPhone, when will it stop raining?"
  Your iPhone: "It'll stop raining in 12 minutes, but start up again 15 minutes later."
  
  I want to live in that future!
  
  -Adam
15. Creator Adam Grossman & Jack Turner on November 17, 2011
  
  Jeff, in response to your "Why not do it as a notification":
  
  Heck yeah! Notifications are going to be the killer feature, I think. Because Dark Sky without notifications is only helpful if you actually remember to look at the app. We're going to launch the app first, and then work hardcore on notifications.
16. Creator Jeff De Cagna on November 17, 2011
  
  Why not do it as a notification?
17. Creator David Dean on November 17, 2011
  
  You guys have done a really nice job, genuinely thoughtful work, and I think it's going to stand head-and-shoulders above the noise in the app markets. Best of luck to you.
  
  Also, please do consider an android port. :)
18. Creator Alex on November 17, 2011
  
  "It will start raining in 8 minutes, and stop 15 minutes later." - this could easily be the best one-line summary of the app. And that's a great update, but don't forget to ship _something_ sooner rather than everything later :)

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