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Blog • • 7 minute read

RaceAR: A New Way to Experience Racing with Augmented Reality

Are you looking for a way to differentiate the sports and entertainment business in the competitive and fast-changing market? Do you want to offer your customers a unique and immersive racing experience that leverages the power of augmented reality (AR) and gaming? Do you want to create new revenue streams and increase customer loyalty and retention? If you answered, 'YES!' to any of these questions, then WWT can help.

2023 Leading Light Award Winner: Networked Edge Use Case

RaceAR is an innovative app that lets your customers enjoy a new racing experience with AR and gaming.  It was developed in partnership with forwARdgame, a German AR gaming company.  RaceAR is a 2023 Leading Light Award Winner with Light Reading!

What is RaceAR?

RaceAR is a mobile app that uses AR to overlay a virtual racetrack on top of any physical location.  Simply leverage a smartphone's camera to scan the surroundings, choose where to place, and adjust the size and orientation of the track to fit.

Once the track is set up, fans can start enjoying the experience either through AR glasses, smartphones, or tablets. The future concept will have the ability to choose to watch the live race or a replay of a previous race. Fans will be able to see the real-time positions and speeds of the race cars on their virtual track, as well as other information such as lap times, standings, and driver names. They can also interact with the cars by tapping on them or swiping on the screen.

One of the most exciting features of RaceAR is that fans can also compete with other fans who are using the app. They can join a multiplayer mode where they can race against other players on the same virtual track. They can also earn points and rewards by completing challenges and tasks, such as overtaking other cars, driving through checkpoints, or collecting coins. They can use these points and rewards to unlock new cars, tracks, and customizations.  Below are the mini-game selections in RaceAR today:

  • BUBBLES: Collect floating tires as cars pass the starting line 5x to earn a sphere for DUNK'EM.
  • DUNK'EM: Throw the sphere into the hoop just before your racer passes under to earn race points.
Screenshot of DUNK'EM Game using the World Wide Technology Raceway in Edwardsville, Illinois as a model track.
  • MAGNETS: Catch drivers with the magnet trap to earn race points.
  • PIT STOP: Compete with other players to have the fastest time changing tires and fueling a race car to earn race points.
Screenshot of the Pit Stop feature using the World Wide Technology Raceway in Edwardsville, Illinois, as a model track.
  • BETTING: Use the earned race point chips to bet on drivers, including their speed, RPM and more.

Backend Technologies with RaceAR

RaceAR is powered by a combination of cutting-edge technologies that enable it to deliver a high-quality AR gaming experience. Some of the technologies used are:

  • WWT's Edge in a Box (EIB): A holistic infrastructure solution that allows customers to quickly implement and use the RaceAR app at the edge of the network. This mobile solution provides customers with the applications, virtualization, compute hardware, and NVIDIA GPUs that enable us to process large amounts of data and deliver low-latency performance. The platform also supports private LTE/5G connectivity, which allows access to the app at any location within a sports arena or stadium.
Visual of WWT's Edge in a Box solution with RaceAR application.
  • MEC Orchestrator: Nearby Computing offers a cross-domain orchestration platform, NearbyOne, that automates and manages all network tiers from Cloud to Edge. NearbyOne enables customers to deploy and run industry 4.0 or IOT applications as a Service on hybrid networks with ease and efficiency.
  • Realtime 3D Engine: Uses a game engine that creates the 3D graphics and animations for our virtual racetrack and cars. This is a cross-platform tool that allows us to develop games for various devices and platforms, such as iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, etc.
  • IoT Devices: IoT devices, such as Trackman, sensors, and cameras, placed around the physical racetrack, to collect real-time telemetry data from the race cars. These devices transmit the data to our edge platform via 5G or WiFi networks. This data is then used to update the virtual race cars in the app accordingly.
  • Magic Leap: RaceAR leverages augmented reality glasses, such as the Magic Leap 2 and Xreal glasses.
  • Visual Positioning System (VPS): With our partnership with Immersal, the technology can assist with spatial mapping and visual positioning of the racetrack and pit stop area.

RaceAR is designed to provide a fun and immersive experience for fans who love racing. By using AR, WWT aims to bridge the gap between the real and the virtual worlds and create a new way of engaging with the sport.

Screenshot of RaceAR using the World Wide Technology Raceway in Edwardsville, Illinois, as a model track.

How WWT can help your business grow with emerging technology

RaceAR and other digitally transforming applications are not just apps for racing fans. They are also game changers for the sports and entertainment business as a whole. By leveraging WWT's expertise and innovation in this space, RaceAR offers several benefits, such as:

  • Differentiating your brand: In today's rapidly evolving landscape, setting your brand apart is a paramount challenge.  By harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies like RaceAR, a brand gains the unique opportunity to create experiences that can be enhanced with existing fans, while also attracting a larger audience, especially from Generation Z and Generation Alpha. WWT recognizes the expectations for interactive and digital experiences and can assist with seamless network connectivity and deliver groundbreaking Extended Reality (XR) experiences. Through WWT's Edge in a Box (EIB) solutions, WWT bridges the gap caused by subpar existing in-venue connectivity. WWT's solutions enable the low latency connectivity that results in immersive XR experiences that captivate the fans, enhance engagement, and potential to drive increased attendance.
  • Generating new revenue streams: Applications like RaceAR have the capability of generating new revenue streams by integrating gambling and gaming services. Additional revenue streams could be targeted advertisements, promotions, and sponsorships. This strategic approach unlocks exciting opportunities to monetize events and engage fans in innovative ways. The revenue potential derived from these services further establishes WWT's expertise in driving business growth and industry innovation.
  • Elevating the fan journey: RaceAR is just the start of elevating the fan's journey and can be extended to many other opportunities once the solution is in place. VenueAR is an Augmented Reality (AR) concept that enhances the entire journey, starting even before your customers reach the venue. Through features such as wayfinding, seat finding, promotion notifications, and advertisements, VenueAR can provide an immersive pre- and post-event experience. By seamlessly integrating these elements, it sets the stage for an unforgettable experience that captivates your customers from the moment they engage with the event.

Reach out to our Gaming, Entertainment, Media and Metaverse (GEMM) experts to learn more about how WWT and RaceAR can benefit your raceway or sporting event: https://www.wwt.com/industry/gaming-entertainment-media-metaverse/overview

Visual of an immersive experience.

Why choose WWT's RaceAR experience?

RaceAR creates the ability to offer customers and fans a unique and immersive racing experience that leverages the power of AR and gaming. In addition, WWT offers complete packages to simplify the deployment and guarantee a seamless experience. WWT's plug-and-play approach ensures that applications rely on computing power and connectivity, with private LTE/5G readily available. The result is a seamless experience that meets the demanding requirements of low latency and high bandwidth. WWT's expertise in compute and connectivity solutions, leveraging secure SIM cards for private wireless access, further establishes a commitment to providing a robust and reliable infrastructure.

WWT also offers a full experience and integration that goes beyond providing connectivity. WWT actively fosters partnerships to enhance the offerings. By collaborating with third-party vendors, WWT enables the integration of AR glasses, video gaming software, and computing to deliver end-to-end experiences. This holistic approach ensures that your customers encounter a comprehensive and cohesive journey, integrating seamlessly with the solutions and technology stack supporting it.

WWT also transforms in-venue connectivity by addressing the limitations of existing solutions. By leveraging expertise in network design and deployment, WWT creates a finely tuned access network that ensures robust connectivity and low-latency experiences for your customers to improve the in-venue digital experience.

If you are interested in trying out RaceAR, reach out to WWT's experts through WWT's Edge Discovery Workshop: https://www.wwt.com/workshop/edge-innovation-studio-discovery-workshop 

See what Chris Blair, Executive Vice President & General Manager at World Wide Technology Raceway says about RaceAR here: https://www.wwt.com/video/racear

Header image: Shot of RaceAR using the World Wide Technology Raceway in Edwardsville, Illinois, as a model track.

Technologies