Alongside you are top names like Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The cars' engines are screaming and everyone is poised to go. For any Formula One fan the chance to race against their heroes would be a dream come true. Sadly, the closest most of us have ever got is watching the Grand Prix on television. But that could soon change if a company from the Netherlands has its way. The patented system his company is developing sucks in real-time GPS data from racing events and pumps it out to compatible games consoles and PCs. The idea is that you could pit yourself against the top drivers in the world, as it happens, from the comfort of your living room. The firm is currently in talks with six developers about using the technology.
At the core of iOpener's technology is an enhanced GPS system known as differential GPS (DGPS). This uses a network of fixed base stations to correct the GPS signal, which on its own may only be accurate to within 10m. DGPS is commonly used for air navigation or shipping where precision is key: (a) car position located with Global Navigation Satellite Systems; (b) location data and car telemetry is beamed to a track side server; (c) data is tagged with unique ID of the car and sent over the internet; (d) information stored on servers and "mediacast" to gamers. Whole process from car to gamer takes less than five seconds. From the track side, the data is sent over the net to a server farm, where it is saved before being pumped out - or "mediacast" - to eager gamers. The system also handles the results of in-game collisions between real and virtual drivers.
More information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7440658.stm
More information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7440658.stm