Porsche develops app to record roads while driving, drive virtually later

Porsche has announced the development of an app called virtual road project that will allow users to record favourite roads and drive them again later virtually.

The premium automaker wants everyone to be able to drive on the most beautiful roads in the world, using the Virtual Road project.

The app will enable the user to record a road, by mounting their phone to their dashboard.

It says, initially, users will then be able to “drive” these roads through their phones, and eventually, it’ll be made into a racing sim.

Porsche says the initiative is made in collaboration with a Swiss start-up, Way Ahead Technologies, and it will allow users to drive on public roads over and over again.

The app will record the entire 3D environment, including trees, crash barriers, and other landmarks. This is said to be a big initiative in the simulation world, as this process would typically take 99 per cent more time and resources carried out by big studios.

It reports Way Ahead Technologies as saying the current version of the programme can digitalise up to 4.97 miles (8km) of roads in less than an hour.

“Of course, that will depend on the complexity of the road. If you’re worried about data protection, the company said that the programme makes sure that other road users are not plucked from real life and transferred into the virtual world,” it adds.

To digitize roads, big studios use lasers to measure the exact height of the tarmac, which won’t happen with the phone app. This will make the roads a little less realistic, but Porsche says that bumps and topography will be incorporated into the resulting track.

Porsche quotes the project’s Chief Marketing Officer, Robert Ader, as saying, “If you ask people what they think is the most beautiful road, everyone has their own, very personal route in mind. The characteristics of the topography are what make a route particularly attractive, regardless of whether it is a unique Alpine pass or a legendary coastal road.

“We want to trigger these great memories with a much simpler digitalization process that allows anyone to drive their favourite route virtually.”

It also quotes Roger Rueegg of Way Ahead Technologies, as saying the app can use data from Porsche’s own chassis control system and G meters in the future to make roads more realistic.