Lap of Legends
Six Virtual Legends. One Real Driver. On a Real Track. At Silverstone.
I'm often asked what my 'dream project' would be, which is a bit unfair because I think a dream project can come in many different forms. Lap of Legends, however, turned that on its head. During the initial briefing call with our friends at FCB New York, the request was simple: "We need you to develop an AR helmet technology that allows a real Formula 1 driver to race virtual avatars of past drivers, but he would be in his real car and on a real track.
My involvement with this project spanned a few different roles, starting with being a core member of the pitch team, serving as the technical director and resident Formula 1 subject matter expert. As production began I turned my focus to leading the technical development of the AR helmet system as well as managing the other technical partners we brought in throughout the project.
Teaser Trailer
The Teaser trailer was released in November 2023 to hype what was to come. Behind the scenes, the heavy innovation work was just beginning.
Lap of Legends - Full Show
The TV special aired on May 14th, 2024 on AMC, BBC America, and the Roku Channel. The show garnered over 18 million viewers in 18 countries worldwide. This innovative special was a leap forward by combining technical innovation with sports coverage.
Cannes Digital Craft Case Study
Lap of Legends was shortlisted in 10 categories in Cannes including the coveted Innovation award, and went on to win four Lions including a Gold Lion for Digital Craft.
Behind the Technology
A deeper dive into the full technology story behind Lap of Legends.
The Backstory
On the initial briefing call with our friends at FCB New York, the request was simple: "We need you to develop an AR helmet technology that allows a real Formula 1 driver to race virtual avatars of past drivers, but he will be in his real car and on a real track. And we will be creating a TV special out of it."
Having been a race fan nearly my whole life, this was indeed a dream brief. The race fan in me was excited to have the chance to pitch this sort of thing. The technologist in me was somewhat daunted by the challenge, but a clear approach emerged early on that ended up being the solution.
Research + Development
Research and development was guided first and foremost by safety. I knew right away that we couldn't be able to do too much to the car, and that we couldn't modify the helmet in any invasive way. Then there was the small matter of developing realistic avatars and cars for our featured legends. We also had to come up with an AR tracking solution that could work at high speeds and across the 3.8 mile Silverstone circuit, and a broadcast camera system that could broadcast the entire race to viewers at home.
I had in my head a vision of how this could work, but the incredible Roger Hom created beautiful concept art and diagrams to really illustrate how things would work.
Technical Concepts
Machine Learning
Machine learning was used to process 43 million data points from 40+ years of races. This allowed us to create profiles for the virtual races and the cars of the eras they raced in.
Artificial Intelligence
With the virtual racers and cars, we used artificial intelligence to apply the virtual profiles to situational decision making. This meant that our virtual drivers behaved like they would in the car they actually raced in. We had incredible partners at Straight4 studios to guide our simulation tests and driver development.
World Scale, GPS-based AR
We developed a special helmet system that could track Logan’s real car and head movements within a digital double environment of the track. This allowed us to place the virtual avatars in Logan’s helmet visor. Our partners at RaceLogic helped develop a special 5G GPS device to relay the high-speed positioning data into our system.
Broadcast AR
We worked with MoSys to use broadcast cameras that were tracked within the same virtual world as the virtual cars. This allowed viewers at home to see ALL the action play out on the track, both real and virtual.
The AR helmet consisted of an optical unit with full HD resolution mounted inside the helmet that needed to be connected to power and a display signal. The two leads from the helmet attached to a power bank and a Samsung Galaxy S21 mobile device. Both of these components were mounted in the car with dual-lock tape, and wired in a way that the driver could get out in the FIA-required 7 seconds in case of emergency.
Silverstone's 5G connectivity allowed us to have an easy round trip path for our data with minimal latency. Our race-grade GPS system by RaceLogic transmitted the car's exact position down to the centimeter at 100Hz and sent that data to our 3D race environment on a computer in the pit garage. With the physical car's position determined in the digital double of the track, we could determine the positions of the virtual cars, and relay that data back to the Unity application in the car which would then render the virtual cars in the field of view of the helmet.
Innovation Lab Segment
Hat tip to the creative team at FCB New York wrote me into the script of the film to have me explain the helmet technology and development.
Awards
I can't say enough about the partnership and trust it took to pull this one off. This was a true collaborative effort between our agency partners at FCB New York, Michelob ULTRA, and Williams Racing.
Lap of Legends was viewed by millions of fans around the globe, and was well received on by the industry's top awards. Starting with 10 Shortlists in Cannes and winning two gold and two silver Lions including a Gold in Digital Craft, Lap of Legends has also won 17 Clios and has been recognized by LIA, Blooloop, and others.