Canal+ broadcasts race with GPS GeoRacing system

Canal+, a French cable television channel, used Trimaran’s GeoRacing GPS tracking and visualization system to improve live television coverage of the Tour de Corse 2015, the FIA World Rally Championship held on the island of Corsica in October.

Through a combination of GPS data and advanced technologies like virtual timing and ghost visualization, Trimaran’s GeoRacing solution allowed Canal+ to track the motorsport race in real time and better visualize its progression, enhancing the television viewer’s experience. The system dramatically improves the broadcaster’s ability to deliver live audio commentary about the race, giving viewers a race-time comparison of the drivers along with other important stats.

During the Tour de Corse race, Canal+ used multiple cameras with GPS trackers in cars and helicopters, and at the starting, mid-point and finish lines. The GPS tracking system situated on the cameras was provided by AMPVisual TV, a technology partner of Canal+ and Trimaran.

Throughout the race, GPS positioning from each of the cars was sent to the GeoRacing system. Using Trimaran’s solution, Canal+ instantly delivered detailed sports information and statistics, such as speed, timing (retiming for staggered starts) and ranking. This enabled viewers to better understand the progression of the live race.

With the virtual timing capability, Canal+ was able to demonstrate the virtual differences between cars at a precision of 1/10th of a second. Trimaran’s ghost visualization feature provides a 3D representation of the rival positions in real time, creating the feeling that the cars all left the starting line simultaneously.