Race to the finish: ESNC's final call for satnav ideas
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So, you’ve got great ideas for a killer app, innovative technology or quirky new way of using satellite navigation? Well, the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) wants to hear from you. But be fast as the deadline for submission is 30 June 2011.
On the track with iOpener. ©iOpenerThe ESNC is looking for bright ideas. Like a new gaming application where ‘virtual’ racers pit their skills against real racers in real cars in real time. Ideas where science fiction can cross paths with satellite navigation on the way to business success.
iOpener, the team behind a unique satnav application, imagined millions of gamers, young and old, who’ve fantasized about being race drivers but never had the opportunity or were put off by the image of a flameball tumbling across the race-track!
iOpener was a 2006 ESNC prize-winner, and took home the European Space Agency’s ‘Innovation Prize’ which included an offer to take part in ESA’s Business Incubation Initiative. The Dutch start-up went on to seal a €4.1 million investment deal with Triangle Venture Capital group. Now based in Aachen (DE), iOpener has grown into a 20-strong team and its patented augmented reality gaming system, called Real-Time Racing (RTR), is getting excellent reviews from the thousands of beta testers and the gaming sector.
Eyes on the prize
Since 2004, ESNC’s mission has been to spur on development of market-driven applications based on satellite navigation technologies and initiatives, including EGNOS and Galileo. More than €140 000 in cash prizes and €1 million in start-up support are up for grabs.
Winners of the nearly 30 regional and Special Topic prizes will be in the running for the Galileo Masters grand prize of €20 000 and six months incubation in a regional centre of choice, awarded by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
With the help of Europe’s global navigation satellite system (GNSS), iOpener transmits live telemetry data from racecars into a virtual racing environment, making it possible for gamers to experience racing in real-time, on real tracks, and against real opponents driving real cars.
iOpener is now ramping up its operations to work with major race series and tracks, with the World Rally Championship race series and the Sepang International Circuit already signed on. Even more challenging race series are just around the bend. Meanwhile, scouts are set to use RTR to uncover talented drivers of the future. That’s virtual reality with a real-world twist.
Act now!
If you think you have an idea that can open eyes the way the iOpener project has, the ESNC wants to hear from you. But do hurry, the deadline for submission is 30 June 2011!
More information:
To learn more about EGNOS and Galileo: www.gsa.europa.eu
Or contact GSA’s press officer: Donna Reay, Tel: +32 2 298 52 10 and E-mail: donna.reay@gsa.europa.eu
To learn more about ESNC and Galileo Masters: www.galileo-masters.eu
Or contact AZO’s press officer: Ulrike Daniels, Tel. +49 8105 77277 14 and E-mail: daniels@anwendungszentrum.de