New system enables sailors to receive live data on performance
Auckland, New Zealand -- Imagine a pair of high-tech sunglasses that not only filters out the ocean's glare and the sun's most harmful rays, but also makes the wearer feel like the Bionic Man.
For sailors of the Oracle BMW Racing team, the future is here. They have tested and utilized a micro-display system that enables them to receive live performance data from the race boat on their sunglasses, directly in their field of vision.
Oracle's cool new shades are related to a technological breakthrough in Formula One auto racing that was recently adapted for use by the San Francisco team in the America's Cup trials. It is similar to a racing helmet that BMW developed for its Formula One driver, Ralf Schumacher.
The wireless system provides Oracle sailors with crucial data such as boat speed, wind speed, and the angle sailed to the wind by the team's 80-foot racing yacht.
Oracle helmsman Peter Holmberg said the innovation "has further progressed the information technology of sailing into the 21st century."
Engineers from BMW's advanced technology unit in Palo Alto adapted the system to sailboat racing in hopes of giving billionaire Larry Ellison's syndicate an edge against the Swiss Alinghi team in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger finals.
Oracle was hoping for a victory late last week to keep its place in the racing finals.
Oracle sailor Eric Doyle, who has worn the glasses in competition, called the new glasses "a significant advance in the distribution of specific data to the individual sailors. The BMW team seamlessly advanced the project from concept to a fully working system on the boat in less than three weeks."
The technology was installed on Oracle's USA-76 race boat and tested during tuning and practice runs by two BMW engineers, Rob Passaro of San Francisco, and John Ananny of Palo Alto.
Passaro, BMW's chief engineer on the project, said the micro-display system was designed to optimize the speed and performance of Oracle's racing yacht. He called the system a "perfect example of cross-pollination of technology from Formula One to America's Cup yachting."
Oracle's onboard telemetry system provides real-time race data to a device that distributes individually tailored, digital information to the lenses of the sailors' sunglasses.
With the sailboat performance data relayed directly to a sailor's line of sight, it is easier for a sailor to focus solely on the racing tasks before him instead of having to read the information on traditional displays located on various parts of the sailboat.
"Clear access to this information can provide a distinct performance advantage," said Tag Heuer chief executive Jean-Christophe Babin. Tag Heuer, a racing partner of the Oracle team, provided sports sunglasses that were modified to incorporate the micro-display system.
The micro-display system operates solely within the perimeter of the race boat. The regatta's rules forbid the yachts to carry any gear during a race capable of receiving or transmitting any communications or signals from outside the yacht.
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