Cup races test of technical wizardry

By Chris Barton

Technology, as everyone knows, plays the leading role in the America's Cup. Some say it is the team with the best simulation software and the best analysis package that will win.

But technology also plays a big part in getting television coverage of the race back to shore.

Besides a bevy of television transmission gear, there is also a steady stream of GPS (global positioning system) data coming off the yachts to feed the animation software that shows what is really happening on the water.

The software from Dunedin-based Animation Research got its first workout since the 1995 cup during the Road to the America's Cup regatta at the weekend. TVNZ has a contract to use the software in its host coverage of the America's Cup 2000.

The regatta also provided the first workout for Telecom's cellular digital packet data (CDPD) Airdata service, which carries the live GPS signals (five updates a second) to Animation Research's Silicon Graphics computers at a temporary base on North Head, Devonport. Previously the data had been sent by radio rather than cellular modems - and was prone to interference.

The director of Animation Research, Paul Sharp, is in delicate negotiations at present to get the software adopted for the TV broadcasts of the challenger series, which starts in October. Ideally he also wants the software on screen at the Louis Vuitton media centre. Competition is coming from the animation package used by ESPN in San Diego during the challenger series in 1995.

There is also talk of incorporating the animations which plot the paths of the yachts during their races on a Web site. But this, too, is undecided while the complexities of TV coverage and Web site rights are worked through.

Mr Sharp is looking to enhance the software for the America's Cup 2000 races through better data input for wind and greater accuracy on buoy positions, which will for the first time also have GPS modems attached.

He believes the reason the package is so successful is that it "concentrates on providing pictures to describe what is going on" rather than aiming to provide "total realism."

Animation Research was born in 1990 as a research unit of Otago University. The company was formed in 1991 and today has eight fulltime animators/ programmers.

As well as its yachting simulation, it also provides simulation software for golf coverage, which was used during the Australasian PGA tour.

The company prides itself on writing its own animation software on a mix of computer equipment, including Silicon Graphics and Windows NT-based workstations. Notable TV advertisement successes include the Bluebird penguins, the Air New Zealand gannets, the Link ferry's seagulls and Ribena's robotic "cyberries" - which are enjoying international airtime in Britain and Australia.

Pictured: Animation Research director Paul Sharp. PICTURE / FOTOPRESS