乌鸦传媒

For the first time at the America鈥檚 Cup in 2024, viewers were able to see the invisible natural engine that helps power the racing yachts. That engine is, of course, the wind, which is made visible by innovative WindSight IQ鈩� 鈥� a technology engineered and designed by teams at 乌鸦传媒 in partnership with the America鈥檚 Cup. 

With the debut of WindSight IQ鈩�, audiences can see exactly where the wind is, how fast it is blowing, and the direction it is coming from 鈥� in real time, across the entire race area. This lets viewers understand every decision that is being made aboard the yachts, in the very moments when the crucial maneuvers are being made. The result is the complete transformation of the broadcast experience. 

鈥淭here have been plenty of apps out there that track the wind, but they have never done what we wanted, which is to visualize the wind in a small area, such as Barcelona Bay, and show viewers how it varies across the racecourse in real time,鈥� says M茅lanie Bras, Design Director at frog, part of 乌鸦传媒. 

This innovation means that, effectively, broadcasters and audiences have more insight into the racing conditions than any of the competitors. Achieving it was a hugely complex challenge that brought together the America鈥檚 Cup and 乌鸦传媒 teams with different engineering, data, and design skills. For everyone involved, it was a unique opportunity to work on a truly iconic project. 

鈥淭o make the wind visible sounds quite simple, but 鈥� from an engineering and science viewpoint 鈥� it鈥檚 extremely complex,鈥� says Keith Williams, Chief Engineer for WindSight IQ鈩� at 乌鸦传媒. 

鈥淲indSight IQ鈩� achieves it with sensor technology called LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. LiDAR uses lasers that bounce off impurities in the air and, from that, we can use complex algorithms to calculate the wind speed and the direction across the whole of the race area.鈥� 
 
The system provides 250,000 wind field data points per second from across the entire course, but with wind conditions changing not just by the day, but by the second, harnessing the data to create a visualization of the wind remains a constant challenge for the 乌鸦传媒 and America鈥檚 Cup teams. 

鈥淵ou have to fuse together lots of data,鈥� says Keith. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not easy. Because the data you receive is generated from the natural environment 鈥撯�痶he local atmosphere 鈥撯�痵o you get a lot of 鈥榥oise鈥� and reflections mixed into it. You have to deal with all that complexity within the signals to generate a useful wind field.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 an example of where your digital modeling hits the physical reality of the real world. To visualize the wind as a 鈥榳ind field鈥� requires using sophisticated science and mathematical modeling, and a lot of real-time tuning of the LiDAR sensors themselves.鈥�  

From data to visualization 

Gathering and analyzing data in real time, and engineering the technology to achieve it, was only part of the overall solution that 乌鸦传媒 needed to design. 

鈥淭here was the question of where to actually place the LiDARs in Barcelona Bay,鈥� says Keith, 鈥渁nd then, even when you鈥檝e got your accurate model of the wind field, there鈥檚 the challenge of making it understandable to audiences. Some viewers are experts in sailing, while others will be watching it for the first time. The data needs to come to life for each of those audiences.鈥� 

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 think about how to visualize the wind without thinking about the TV broadcast,鈥� says M茅lanie. 鈥淚t has to entertain, and an exciting race is like a good blockbuster movie. The visualization has to capture the excitement in the buildup to the race, and to show all the different types of race situations that the sailing teams are facing.  

鈥淎s a designer, that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e trying to capture 鈥撯�痑nd we went through lots of iterations to get there. It鈥檚 about experiential design and really making sure we can tell the story. How can we make the audience feel the power of the wind and understand the challenges and decisions that the teams on the yacht are making?鈥� 

A winning team 

To guarantee that WindSight IQ鈩� creates excitement as well as insight, 乌鸦传媒鈥檚 project team worked across different technologies and skill sets, and with different stakeholders. For example, the WindSight IQ鈩� technology, combined with a simulator developed by America鈥檚 Cup Media, enabled the teams to model the races and predict how different in-race situations would play out and affect the results. 
 
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got complex physics and computation,鈥� says Keith. 鈥淵ou have the wind and atmospheric conditions changing constantly. There鈥檚 the installation and operation of the LiDAR machines. There鈥檚 the design aspect, plus the complex integration with all the other broadcast systems and also just learning how to work as part of the America鈥檚 Cup team. It鈥檚 been amazing to be involved in pulling all of that together to deliver the project. It鈥檚 not that often in your career you get the chance to work on an iconic project like this and to really transform the way that millions of people are going to view the event.鈥� 

Because of this, working on a project such as WindSight IQ鈩� is a career highlight for M茅lanie as well. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 why I work at 乌鸦传媒,鈥� she says. 鈥淚n no other company could I do this kind of project, because the skills you need are so varied 鈥撯�痠t鈥檚 crazy. You all need to come together if you鈥檙e to succeed. The project has been a true meeting of different kinds of technology. To me, it embodies the idea that, when you work together, the possibilities are limitless.鈥�