What Gamers and Car Developers Have in Common

Many will remember the early racing video games, when the graphics of "Gran Turismo" or "World Racing," revolutionary for their time, caused a sensation. However, yesterday's cutting-edge technology may seem outdated today, to the point of thinking: "Is this how it looked? I don't remember it this way!" explains Christian Buck in issue 1/2024 of Porsche Engineering magazine.

Now, instead of pixelated roads, we find sharp and realistic landscapes that are even used for car development. After all, there is one thing that gamers and car developers have in common: they want reality to be transferred to the virtual world with as much detail as possible.

The former, to feel like they are in a real car while playing; the latter, to test new vehicle features with the help of simulations. But who is leading the way?

The answer to this question is: it depends. Although current video games feature virtual cars that closely resemble real ones, engineers still better understand driving physics and systems like ABS or ESP. Moreover, some aspects are hard to reproduce in a game, such as tire behavior. "However, some manufacturers in the video game industry make great efforts to create digital images true to the original models," comments Sebastian Hornung, Managing Director of OverTake, a Porsche subsidiary. "For example, an Italian company searched through racing archives from the 70s to recreate the Porsche 917 and Porsche 956 on a computer, in a process that took several months of meticulous work."

In this regard, Porsche assists game developers by providing them with 3D models of their vehicles. If necessary, they can measure the dimensions of historic race cars from the Porsche Museum using a laser scanner and even record their sound. "Since game manufacturers always use the latest graphics engines, the models they create look magnificent," assures Hornung.

On the track, both game developers and engineers benefit from suppliers who use laser scanners to detect even the smallest irregularities on the asphalt surface, whether real or virtual. Both maintain the same level of precision.

For its part, Porsche is working on automating road digitization with the help of the "Virtual Roads" application, thus breaking new ground in this field.

Video recordings taken with a smartphone through the windshield serve as a starting point for creating simplified 3D route models that are then transferred to the digital world, allowing anyone to virtually drive on their favorite stretches.