Dakar Rally in the West End

About the project

At the request of the Art Group agency, we created an Augmented Reality (AR) application for the promotion of the Szalay Dakar Team Opel Mokka. At the stand built in the West End, visitors could become part of the race themselves with the help of the app: they had to drive the Opel Mokka race car through a desert, rocky terrain — against the clock. The terrain appeared on a giant, 4-meter-long designed table using AR technology — just like the car itself, which matched the real race car in every detail. The seemingly serious game was made less risky by the fact that the cars were only virtually placed under the control of the temporary drivers. The 80×400 cm track, divided into 5 sections, is far from as easy to complete as it first appears, since virtual plants and terrain objects placed on the track make each section harder to finish. Starting from the podium, avoiding the tires placed around the track lined with barriers, we immediately jump into the second section. In the second stage, we have to fight our way through terrain rising in 3D, which is nearly impossible without enough momentum. After that, we cross the bridge used for gathering speed, and find ourselves in the 4th section. The ideal line on the right side of the 4th section forms a valley shape in 3D, but we can also take on the faster left side, where after a big jump we reach the final stage. In the decisive final 5th section, all that's left to do is hit the finish gate precisely. Of the five sections, two are entirely virtual, while the remaining three appear on the 2D printed tabletop, with AR only adding virtual terrain objects. A winner is announced every day during the promotion, and after two weeks the best competitor receives a valuable trip abroad. Results can be tracked automatically on the Opel Hungary Facebook page. The application, built for the iPad 3, is not public and was made exclusively for this promotion.