We’ve just returned from the wintry, snowy, cold Canadian Motorsport Expo where we showed off the latest development version of RaceHero ahead of our official March launch.

Using data recorded from actual races, we created a looping demo to demonstrate live timing features like up to date position, best time and lap as well as a complete lap time and position history for each racer.  Results for runs along with entry lists and event schedules are all driven directly from the timing and scoring software, in this case MyLaps Orbits 4, however our service can work with any T&S software that exposes a suitable data stream.

Our goal is to capture the story of race heroes.  Whether that is the battle for the lead or a scrap for 15th, we are highlighting the best racing of the event in a way that is personal and contextual.  But if you don’t know any of the people involved in the race, it can be hard to get excited about a new personal best or track record.  Besides, who doesn’t love cheering and jeering for the Pros?  So for our launch we’re pulling in data from a well-known series to showcase the analytics and stories with names and teams that are familiar to everyone.  Keep an eye out for some tweet-worthy stats and screens!

Startup Notes

For startup enthusiasts, we learned a “how to work the crowd” lesson from PRI where we had remote-controlled trucks with MyLaps decoder boxes and transponders running live around a miniature course.  It was a lot of fun but the size of the booth restricted the number of simultaneous participants. In a two-truck race, there can really only be one race hero and that’s not much fun!  This time we used an Apple TV with Airplay mirroring to let anyone play with the iPad and see the results on the big screen TV.  When explaining how we identify and display race heroes to groups, it was far more effective to use the TV where everyone could easily see what we were talking about.  For one-on-one conversations the iPad was perfect.  Plus, anyone could pull out a phone and connect to our wifi spot to check it out on their own.  As a bonus, this took half the number of people as it did to keep a bunch of racers and their R/C trucks on course and in control!  Thanks go to Developer Dan for packaging it in time for the crowds.