"Reimagining and enriching fans’ approach to outdoor events with immersive experiences, transforming the relationship between spectators and sport."
While the Vendée Globe is above all the most prestigious solo round-the-world sailing race and an exceptional adventure for the skippers taking part, it is also a tremendous occasion for innovation and an opportunity to reinvent the way large-scale outdoor sporting events are experienced by the general public.
Planning under extraordinary circumstances
Orange Events, the Group’s entity that is specialised in putting on connected events—not only in the area of sports, but also cultural and institutional events, etc.—was the partner of the 2020–2021 edition. The race, which draws many fans to the docks before and at the start of the event, took on an even more exceptional aspect due to the context of the health crisis. It had a ‘socially distanced’ starting line, giving unique publicity to the tools and solutions designed by Orange Events for the event. “We provide, in sum, all the connectivity services, including image transmission”, explains Pierre-Louis de Guillebon, CEO of Orange Events. “This type of project of course requires planning several months in advance, and we began under difficult circumstances at the start of 2020. We sent a team of around ten people to the site, overseen by a global project manager and a production manager, to supervise the installation of all the necessary equipment — fibre, Wi-Fi, routers, antennas etc. With the tightening of the health restrictions, we set up an ad hoc team to continue the work and reinforce the Wi-Fi coverage of the starting line and mobile coverage on the ocean, for which we carried out a specific radio study.”
From connectivity to immersion
In addition to connectivity, the system designed by Orange Events was used to provide image services, based on two innovations outlined by Bertrand Rojat, Chief Marketing & Innovation Director: “The first is the immersive and interactive coverage of the event in Twitch mode, to film the race from the inside and interact with the skippers: the Immersiv Race solution. The boats of Samantha Davies, Romain Attanasio and Armel Tripon were equipped with mini-cameras (durable smartphones) for live broadcasting on social networks. The broadcast is supported by 4G mobile connectivity, via a Cloud TV production platform allowing viewers to select cameras, add comments and so on. This unprecedented production method opens up a world of possibilities, as it can be adapted to all outdoor sports environments and even more situations, thanks to the minor resources required in terms of cost and implementation. The second solution, the Virtual Tour, allows people to virtually visit the key event areas, for example the pontoons. Through a dedicated app, they can connect with someone on site, equipped with a 360° camera with duplex audio system. The spectator can rotate the image from their device simply by dragging their finger.”
From internal synergies to gems from the ecosystem
These new experiences, which have already attracted more than a million spectators, were created with the help of partners within the Orange Group and in the broader ecosystem. For example, the technical players at Orange France and the local intervention unit helped to deploy the connectivity system. For the immersive aspect, the Group’s Innovation teams brought their know-how by testing the livestreaming solution and adapting one of their applications, called Livecall 360, to the events organisation context. Several start-ups also shared their expertise, such as DAZZL with its Cloud platform-control room dedicated to live TV production using lightweight capture capabilities, and Idviu for the virtual visit app. The durable mobiles were designed by the French company Crosscall.
A more ambitious tomorrow
The success met by these solutions, in addition to that of the virtual race, highlights the general public’s appetite for new experiences and new ways to watch major events. “Our offer is reimagining and enriching fans’ approach to outdoor events in general, compared to traditional means and media”, conclude Pierre-Louis de Guillebon and Bertrand Rojat. “The relationship between spectators and sport is changing. And with 5G, we will be able to further refine the experience and extend the offer to the mass market to apply it to other types of events beyond the sporting world, such as music and concerts.” Music lovers will be able to have a front seat to the show, but remotely!
