The modern America’s Cup yacht has more in common with a Formula 1 race car than the boats of yesteryear. With virtual modelling, composite materials and hydraulic systems that would look at home on an aircraft, these boats literally fly, reaching speeds approaching 50 knots. That’s over 90 kmh for you landlubbers.
The Spark 5G Race Zone concept was born out of this challenge; an immersive interactive event space inside the Emirates Team New Zealand Base that gave the public a chance to get hands-on with tech the team used.
To bring that to life we teamed up with world-leading partners, including Satellite Media, Perceptual Engineering and BuildMedia each charged with realising aspects of the experience, but unified by a clear narrative and design direction.
Seven unique zones were concepted, each a comprehensive, media rich, digital experience, with layers of interfaces and story-telling.
From the Wind Tunnel that allows people to walk through and interact with a real time wind model visualisation, to an immersive 360 experience riding along on a Te Aihe test run, to piloting the actual simulator that Emirates Team New Zealand uses, my job was to keep it all connected, while simultaneously demystifying the tech, and making them realistic and authentic, without giving away any team secrets!