One of the toughest adventure races in the world starts on June 20: the Red Bull X-Alps. Fans can be up close and personal - via a web application in 3D, with cockpit feeling and wind sounds. We combine live tracking data with individual statistics on all athletes and visualize them in real time on an interactive map.
They are considered the toughest adventure race in the world, have the status of an unofficial "Hike-and-Fly" world championship - and will be held for the tenth time this year: The Red Bull X-Alps. On June 20, 33 athletes from 17 nations will set off from Salzburg. They will have to master the most challenging route in the history of the race along fixed turnpoints: 1,238 kilometers across the Alps and back again - and exclusively on foot or by paraglider. The fastest one wins.
Already in 2019, we were able to build a web application with 3D live tracking that brings fans closer to the athletes:inside than ever before. We were commissioned by the communication agency zooom, which is the organizer of the mega event with Red Bull. This year, it offers an even more authentic experience.
Immersive sports marketing with Google Cloud and Google Maps
On interactive maps, the path of the athletes can be tracked live and followed by video: Where exactly are the individual athletes, have they already passed the last checkpoint, are they on foot, or are they currently paragliding? For the visualization, we trace the respective track of all participants in 2D and 3D and assign them different icons depending on their mode of locomotion.
Virtually like flying yourself
A special highlight is the "cockpit mode": paraglider flights are experienced from a first-person perspective. Typical sounds, such as the distinctive climb and descent signals of the variometer or the wind sounds depending on the flight speed, can also be heard. Another plus: The daily ranking of all participants and individual statistics are calculated and visualized from the movement data. This keeps fans worldwide up to date around the clock.
Processing and visualization of real-time tracking data
33 athletes tracking their every move with a GPS device for two weeks - that means large amounts of data that have to be prepared and processed. For this purpose, we developed the interactive web application based on Google Cloud and Google Maps. Its architecture enables fast processing and visualization of live tracking data. And guarantees reliable performance even with large user volumes - for example, at the start of the race or the first finish.
Experience Red Bull X-Alps in live tracking - starting June 20 at redbullxalps.com.
