In 2006, incredibly over a decade ago, I travelled to the Italian Grand Prix with my then girlfriend, now wife, her sister and my future best man. Alongside watching Lewis Hamilton secure his GP2 title and Michael Schumacher retire for the first time, we experienced technology which we felt was going to revolutionise Formula One for the race attending fan. KangarooTV!
KangarooTV offered race attending fans a service in which you were able to rent a handheld device from onsite vendors which received the FOM world feed and commentary via transmitters located around the circuit. In the seasons following Kangaroo TV which went on to become FanVision and became a stable of our Grand Prix experiences. As geeks, we happily wasted a Friday walking through the forests surrounding Spa to test the strength of the transmission. When KangarooTV FanVision’s agreement with FOM was not extended, from memory 3-4 years after the introduction, We were extremely disappointed.
Seeing the Formula One press release yesterday announcing the return of FanVision created mixed emotions. On the one hand, this is fantastic for the race attending fan. The service enables fans at the race a way in which to follow the race, without needing to watch a repeat when they get home, but the technology is over 12 years old! Formula One is meant to present the Pinnacle of Motorsport, this by definition means the product offering should be at the forefront of technological advances.
I expected the 2018 FanVision to be a device agnostic solution. FanVision should be a service race attending fans can access via their phones through the ticket in their eWallet. Long range wireless charging should encompass the circuit on a 5G Network. All of this should be sponsored by the leading telecommunications provider of the country the race is located. FanVision should be a tool for technology leaders to bring to life the latest tech aimed at improving our day to day lives.
So with the formal announcement of the return of FanVision, I’m calling out longterm F1 partners Tata Communications, and team partners; Qualcomm, Microsoft, AMD, IBM, Acronis, Kaspersky. As a lifelong fan of F1 and a bit of Technology Geek, I expected more!
To Sean Bratches & Albert Goma, “Engineered Insanity” is not reintroducing decade old tech. Formula One should do better than this, and to be honest, Formula E would do better than this.
For more on the return of FanVision in F1 or to hire a unit for your own Grand Prix plans this season head to Discover Grand Prix via this link
Wilde Consulting 