TU Delft introduces unique experience app for sailing enthusiasts

Imagine yourself as a real sailor on board with your favourite sailing team, being able to witness the strategic manoeuvres of World Championship sailors from up close. With the Sailing+ Experience app – a technology developed by researchers from TU Delft – this long-held dream of every sailing enthusiast becomes reality. This innovative app uses real-time data tracking, visualisations and Augmented Reality (AR) to provide an unprecedented viewing experience of the Sailing World Championships. It gives users the opportunity to watch sailing races from different angles and gain insight into sailors’ tactical decisions. The launch of the Sailing+ Experience app will take place on Monday 14 August during the Allianz Sailing World Championships in Scheveningen.

Elmar Eisemann, Professor of Computer Graphics & Visualization TU Delft
“With the Sailing+ Experience app, we want to offer a solution to the frustration felt by both sailors and spectators. For competitors, it is a pity that their efforts sometimes go unseen and spectators often miss crucial moments during spectacular sailing races. We want to bridge that gap with our app. By using GPS data, computer graphics and advanced 3D technologies, spectators can experience the sailing during the World Championships in a whole new way.”

Purpose of developing a prototype
Elmar Eisemann and Berend Baas, researchers from the Computer Graphics and Visualization group at TU Delft, have spent the past few years working on the prototype of the app together with their team and the Innovation Sailing Centre. This project was inspired by the desire of the Royal Dutch Water Sports Association to make sailing more attractive to a wider public. “How can we convey the efforts of the sailors to the spectators?”, Eisemann and Baas asked themselves while searching for this innovation. The Sailing+ Experience app – which has already been tested during the Youth Sailing World Championships – gives spectators the opportunity to watch a sailing race from various perspectives. They can follow race statistics in real time, watch from on board the boats and keep up-to-date with developments in the field and on the boats.

Experience sailing races live via the app
Between 13:00 and 14:00 on 14 and 15 August, spectators at the Allianz Sailing World Championships will get the chance to enjoy the races live on a big screen at Festival by the Sea. As the highlight, Annemiek Bekkering – former Olympic sailor and also the tournament director – will personally pilot the spectators through the races via the experience app. Read more here. After today’s launch, the app will be expanded and developed further, the ultimate goal being to make it available worldwide via mobile phone app stores.

Annemiek Bekkering, former Olympic sailor and project manager at the Innovation Sailing Centre
“The Netherlands is known as one of the best sailing countries in the world and we should be proud of that. With the Sailing Experience+ app, we can showcase sailors’ skills even more clearly and bring the racing at sea to the spectators on the shore. You really feel as if you are taking part in the race yourself and you see the other teams tearing past. Not only does it give spectators an amazing experience, it also gives sailors the recognition and appreciation they deserve.”

Field lab in the North Sea
Development of the Sailing+ app was carried out as part of the European project “Field lab in the North Sea”. This advanced test area of 10x10 nautical miles off the coast of The Hague is where TU Delft, the Municipality of The Hague, KPN, TNO, the Sailing Innovation Centre, Svasek Hydraulics and the Royal Dutch Water Sports Association work together to develop smart technological solutions and innovative data-driven products that address social issues relating to safety, sustainability, energy, sport and consumer experience. Read more www.proeftuinopdenoordzee.nl

TU Delft Sports Engineering Institute
The TU Delft Sports Engineering Institute investigates how technology can help improve the performance of top athletes. From materials and design to clothing and equipment, TU Delft looks at how technology can lead to better, more efficient performance. The research also helps with the development of new products or services that make sport more attractive to watch and encourage people to exercise themselves. Research into sailing is an example of this. Read more on the Sports Engineering Institute (tudelft.nl)

For questions and more information
Annemiek Bekkering, annemiek@sailinginnovationcentre.nl/06-39708153
Fien Bosman, Media Relations Officer Health & Care TU Delft, f.j.bosman@tudelft.nl/06-24953733