Virtual Spectator subscribers just waiting for wind

By PETER GRIFFIN

A lack of wind has prevented subscribers of Virtual Spectator's online coverage of the Louis Vuitton Cup from enjoying the racing action with a raft of new improvements to the software.

Tweaking, after feedback from the likes of Team New Zealand head Tom Schnackenberg, Louis Vuitton's Bruno Trouble and dozens of users, has meant more racing statistics displayed graphically.

Now Virtual Spectator needs favourable winds for its "tens of thousands" of users to see the enhancements live in real time.

A new instrument panel has compass headings showing courses and bearings, wind shadows show how boats lose speed in "dirty air" and users for the first time can jump backwards and forwards through parts of a race while it is still in progress.

Keyboard short cuts allow switching between camera views at the touch of a button.

Virtual Spectator even has sound. A gun shot echoes as the boats cross the start line and a bell clangs as they round marker points. But the simple audio add-ons are unlikely to be a precursor to true audio, in the form of web-stream audio commentary accompanying the real-time graphics updates.

Chief executive Greg Young said he simply did not have rights to include audio commentary, which was technically easy to provide.

Although additional sound effects such as the screeching of seagulls and the creaking of strained rigging could be added, Young said ensuring the sound effects worked across a vast range of sound cards was difficult and there was debate as to whether sound was needed.

"What we don't want to do when we have a stable system working on someone's PC is to load another complexity to the software which causes it not to run," he said.

A service flagged on the Virtual Spectator forum (helpdesk.virtualspectator.com) is offering free pre-start audio commentary for some archived races. Subscribers can download MP3 files of the first five minutes of commentary for selected races from www.espace.designlounge.co.nz.

Young would not reveal subscriber numbers but said Virtual Spectator was on track to reach its target of 100,000. The service continued to gain good exposure globally - with the help of some wealthy yachting enthusiasts. OneWorld backer Craig McCaw had Virtual Spectator running on screens at his last board meeting.

Ironically, the overall success of Virtual Spectator could well be tied to which syndicate remains in the competition to face Team New Zealand.

"If Prada drops out we would expect Italian buyers to drop off dramatically. "On the other hand, that's countered by the fact that the American syndicates are doing well."

Ultimately, strong interest from the US market will prove more valuable.

But Young said a spurt of interest traditionally came as the America's Cup neared and the Kiwis entered the fray.

Virtual Spectator

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