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Live camera & telemetry action on "selected" riders in big races

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bladerunner

Mar 11, 2009
168
0
8,830
Like F1, it would be BRILLIANT to have live camera action and telemetry from the riders perspective. It's so do-able now with Go-Pro type cameras and power-meter and GPS technology attached to helmets/bikes and linked to some web software to show LIVE footage or delayed/recorded images. It would take be so exciting to see it from the riders' viewpoint and it will take away the guessing of what happened at crucial moments in races. I wonder when the UCI or race-organisers will wake up to using new media technology to attract more viewers?
 
Benotti69

Benotti69

May 26, 2010
28,143
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I am joking about the weight. I think it would be useful and add a little to the viewing enjoyment but the bikes move a lot and it can make the TV difficult to watch if the camera is shaking all around or side to side. But i think it might be great for certain slow mo situations say sprints etc...

:D
 
H

hmsgenoa

Aug 15, 2010
261
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bladerunner said:
Like F1, it would be BRILLIANT to have live camera action and telemetry from the riders perspective. It's so do-able now with Go-Pro type cameras and power-meter and GPS technology attached to helmets/bikes and linked to some web software to show LIVE footage or delayed/recorded images. It would take be so exciting to see it from the riders' viewpoint and it will take away the guessing of what happened at crucial moments in races. I wonder when the UCI or race-organisers will wake up to using new media technology to attract more viewers?
Click to expand...

I think it's a good idea. I had thought about this a while back - most of the riders have an srm or similar on the bike . It would be interesting to see who's putting out the most watts per kilo during the race, maybe they could make that a part of the sport - a prize for that, so the unsung heroes paving the way for their leaders victory get some recognition.

In a similar way that Mclaren were asked to make a common engine management system in F1, maybe the Cycle computer manufactuers could agree a common format allowing direct comparisons to be made.
 
O

orangerider

Nov 16, 2011
426
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Benotti69 said:
I am joking about the weight. I think it would be useful and add a little to the viewing enjoyment but the bikes move a lot and it can make the TV difficult to watch if the camera is shaking all around or side to side. But i think it might be great for certain slow mo situations say sprints etc...

:D
Click to expand...

Wide angle lens and image stabilization would make for a solid image. Seems more of a technical limitation here - it's easy to mount and record, but transmitting in real time uses a lot more power & complexity.
 
Caruut

Caruut

Oct 30, 2011
2,639
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orangerider said:
Wide angle lens and image stabilization would make for a solid image. Seems more of a technical limitation here - it's easy to mount and record, but transmitting in real time uses a lot more power & complexity.
Click to expand...

Use race official vehicles (cars and bikes) to piggyback the signal. Send out a weak digital signal from the helmet-cam, and then it gets bumped on by a bigger radio on a car or bike.
 
online-rider

online-rider

Oct 18, 2009
456
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bladerunner said:
Like F1, it would be BRILLIANT to have live camera action and telemetry from the riders perspective. It's so do-able now with Go-Pro type cameras and power-meter and GPS technology attached to helmets/bikes and linked to some web software to show LIVE footage or delayed/recorded images. It would take be so exciting to see it from the riders' viewpoint and it will take away the guessing of what happened at crucial moments in races. I wonder when the UCI or race-organisers will wake up to using new media technology to attract more viewers?
Click to expand...

Many riders have experimented by attatching a camera to their helmets. The footage looks ****, it is not worth it.
 
Caruut

Caruut

Oct 30, 2011
2,639
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Libertine Seguros said:
I don't see what it adds. Oh, we can see a bunch of other riders around us? Cool. It's a gimmick.

Concentrate on making the races more interesting, rather than dressing the same boring races in more attractive packaging.
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There are a few things that the cameras don't pick up, especially when the peloton begins to break down. Would be good to know these things. I'd also love to see a descent from the view of someone like Cancellara.
 
ElChingon

ElChingon

Mar 10, 2009
6,158
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If all the riders wore it there would be no advantage to one rider, even if not very aero I'm sure they'd find a way to make it more aero, just look at the bikes.

Having a camera in the helmet would be pretty cool, there's one on the market now that's ~30mm in diameter and ~120mm long its a long cylinder shaped camera. The only downside was that the camera's battery only holds a 1 or 2 charge, but maybe if only certain riders had it on at a given time to make it last overall for the race?
 
B

bladerunner

Mar 11, 2009
168
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Having just the relevant LIVE telemetry information [i.e. riders' GPS position on a map (no more guessing who is in/out of a group), speed, heart-rate, power .. etc] would be a very good start. The camera would be the icing on the cake. Camera technology has come a long way, these footage on Youtube illustrate the kind of views we will get.

[warning : you may want to turn down your volume control!!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygc-uJQRzHE&list=UUdN6jblySgv9zuZFu-maFGg&index=1&feature=plcp

This type of footage is of good enough quality to attract new fans. Just imagine this type of footage streamed live from some of the top riders during a classic race/stage - in an echelon; in a sprint-finish; in a chase group; during an attack; cause of crashes .. etc. It will TRANSFORM cycling to a new level of sport.

The technology is there readily available. It needs the UCI and the race-organisers to do the right thing. They can post all the information on a web-site LIVE. If you are listening to this UCI or ASO .. etc, a whole new world of advertisers will want to be on your web-site. Also, I, for one of many, will pay for the extra info. [Just don't ask for 100 euros each race!!!]

It will be a WHOLE NEW WORLD of professional cycling for everyone to enjoy.
 
N

nevada

Dec 18, 2009
451
0
0
Benotti69 said:
I am joking about the weight. I think it would be useful and add a little to the viewing enjoyment but the bikes move a lot and it can make the TV difficult to watch if the camera is shaking all around or side to side. But i think it might be great for certain slow mo situations say sprints etc...

:D
Click to expand...

They add weight to get to uci limit anyway - make it a camera.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
32,224
13,692
28,180
bladerunner said:
Having just the relevant LIVE telemetry information [i.e. riders' GPS position on a map (no more guessing who is in/out of a group), speed, heart-rate, power .. etc] would be a very good start. The camera would be the icing on the cake. Camera technology has come a long way, these footage on Youtube illustrate the kind of views we will get.

[warning : you may want to turn down your volume control!!]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygc-uJQRzHE&list=UUdN6jblySgv9zuZFu-maFGg&index=1&feature=plcp

This type of footage is of good enough quality to attract new fans. Just imagine this type of footage streamed live from some of the top riders during a classic race/stage - in an echelon; in a sprint-finish; in a chase group; during an attack; cause of crashes .. etc. It will TRANSFORM cycling to a new level of sport.

The technology is there readily available. It needs the UCI and the race-organisers to do the right thing. They can post all the information on a web-site LIVE. If you are listening to this UCI or ASO .. etc, a whole new world of advertisers will want to be on your web-site. Also, I, for one of many, will pay for the extra info. [Just don't ask for 100 euros each race!!!]

It will be a WHOLE NEW WORLD of professional cycling for everyone to enjoy.
Click to expand...
And how much will it cost to implement?

Not worth it. The actual improvement in coverage will be relatively small. Also, part of the fun is in the guesswork, trying to find out who's where, when the bunch splinters to pieces.

Also, while perhaps the ASO can afford to implement it, what about other races? The GS Emilia guys predict all of their races could die within 5 years. We just nearly lost the Vuelta al País Vasco and Clasica San Sebastián. The Volta a Catalunya's on its last legs, and races all over the shop are losing days (Tour Med, Murcía, Castilla y León, Calabria, Settimana Lombarda). Your solution is to get them to cost more?!

Again, the problems of today's cycling are NOT to do with presentation save for those races that spend about four hours before publishing results. It's to do with the spectacle, as we get more and more boring races and uninspiring parcours. I would rather see the money go on surfacing roads and organising races in more interesting places, than on getting to see the view from the handlebars of someone in the middle of the bunch while we wait four hours for another tedious Cav sprint.

This isn't Formula 1. The GPS stuff can be of use (especially in ITTs, which it has been used in before, in Portugal, País Vasco and at the Worlds at least) but the onboard cameras... is it really any different from a view from a camera bike following the descender? They have on-bike camera footage to showcase a lap of the course at various cyclocross events. It's shaky and chaotic and sometimes impossible to follow. Notwithstanding that the camera might pick up riders' conversations in the bunch, which many of them will not want.
 
Libertine Seguros

Libertine Seguros

Feb 20, 2010
32,224
13,692
28,180
Wow, consider my view totally proven wrong. This is something totally worth bankrupting major races for. My cycling viewing experience has been totally and utterly revolutionised. How could I ever go back to the old fashioned coverage with only motorbike cams and helicopter footage?
 
K

karlboss

Mar 13, 2009
2,890
0
0
I've seen some other footage from the ToC it's not great, and really adds nothing. I think it could work, but race TV directors need to work out when it adds something more than moto footage and use only in these situations, I don't think there are too many situations when it'll be useful.
 
Arnout

Arnout

Mar 10, 2009
4,704
34
15,530
I'd like another feature of F1 and that is radio messages available to the audience. Easy to implement and adds a bit to the fun. It won't change a race, but can be a nice gimmick just like it is in F1.
 
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