The Brief

DRIVING DATA BRINGS BACK THE WORLD’S FASTEST LAP BY AYRTON SENNA FROM 24 YEARS AGO IN SOUND AND LIGHT Honda's two-way communication car navigation system "Internavi" designs driving experiences using driving data collected from vehicles. Its roots go back to the 1980's when Honda introduced Telemetry System to Formula One and stormed the world. Honda has been testing and perfecting this system in racing cars ever since. Today, this technology supports everyday drivers around the world. Ayrton Senna set the world's fastest lap during the 1989 Formula1 Japanese Grand Prix. On board his machine was Honda's telemetry system that recorded Senna's use of accelerator pedal and engine rpm during this record setting lap. We worked jointly with Honda’s telematics division R&D engineer team who have developed Internavi. At this division there are engineers who have worked on developing and perfecting Senna’s telemetry system back in the day. Together with their supervision we were able to analyze and digitalize telemetry data through out this project. Then it was brought back as a data storytelling using light and sound at Suzuka circuit the same place the actual race was held 24 years ago. The technology was released to public through various media.

This project started from a single sheet of paper on which Senna's driving data was recorded 24 years ago. Based on this sheet of paper we resurrected that race and created a story that would trigger emotions and move viewers worldwide through data. The idea was to elicit memory data stored away in the depths of the viewer's mind and bring it back to life in their head with light and sound on a scale of a race track. First, every aspect of Senna's driving data was digitally restored/analyzed. Then dynamic sound of his F1 machine McLaren Honda MP4/5 was recreated by combining records of data from 1989 with various engine tones recorded today. Finally, 5,807-meter long Suzuka circuit was lined with speakers/LEDs, which were paired with motion data from the race. Viewers would gradually have the illusion as if they are once again watching Senna return to the main stretch in pole position together with Honda. Software: Data was plotted on simulation software, built with openFrameworks, which simulated Senna’s speed/trajectory. Recorded sounds were made into a library to precisely synthesized the sound according to data. The library was built with Sampler on MOTU Digital Performer. Hardware: Sound produced from each speaker is extremely short and only lasts a few hundred msec, so Funktion-One (RES5, RES4, F218, IB218) speakers with instantaneous force were mainly used. To lower the latency of transmission, digital (light) channels were wrapped up from the booth and transmitted to transit points. Then they were converted to analog and output through the speakers. Sound controller was built with Max/MSP. 'IRCAM SPAT External Object' was placed anomalously while the audio image movement was conducted. LED controller was built with openFrameworks and Max/MSP. Artnet Protocol was used for transmitting DMX data. LAN cables were extended with DLS modems NV-600LM/RM.

Revoking emotional responses from around the world, this project demonstrated with great success that strong basic data stays fresh in spite of time, and independent of the vicissitudes of media it can be a source for continued creativity. Article placements: Right after its launch, this project was covered by media from Japan, Brazil, Europe, US and other regions (such as Wired, Gizmodo, Yahoo and so on) despite zero PR/Media budget. Content Views: Played over 3.7 million times, it became most watched YouTube video by an automobile company in Japan’s history and most watched viral video two weeks in a row worldwide. The rate of people who played the video to the end reached 85%, extremely exceeding the average which is 10%. Likes click-through rates: Likes click-through rates on Youtube reached 1%, which is 10 times the average. Fabourable mentions in social media: We received countless comments filled with emotions from viewers all over the world for Honda and Senna. From just data to media art: The project that started from data became media art and was awarded grand prix at Japan Media Arts Festival and a honorable mention at Ars Electronica.