Disguise has worked with F1 Arcade — a hospitality brand and game developer dedicated to Formula 1 – to create F1 Box, an immersive racing simulator experience, in Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, in East London, UK.
Designed to plunge fans into the authentic feel of a real Formula 1 race, F1 Box includes 12 full-motion racing simulators complete with audiovisual commentary and 4K screens for gameplay.
Controlled through Disguise software and hardware solutions, the attraction also includes an LED wall and reactive LED lighting on the racing simulators. Meanwhile, floor-to-ceiling arches are designed to add a dramatic edge. The players compete in two 20-minute back-to-back races before celebrating wins with real-time leaderboard content developed by Disguise.
To bring the experience to life, Disguise’s technical services team began by using the 3D visualiser in Disguise’s Designer software to create a real-time, pixel-accurate representation of the entire space, including visuals, lighting, leaderboard and simulators. This visualisation was sent directly to F1 Box stakeholders for approval. Quick changes could then be implemented in Designer before the team even arrived on site.
Once on site, the Disguise team programmed the space, with synchronised LED visuals, atmospheric lighting and immersive audio all coming together in one multisensory experience using Disguise’s video output, lighting and API controls, and DMX mapping – which linked the LED wall, arches and simulator lighting.
The idea was for anyone entering the space to be surrounded by everything from LEDs across the back wall to wraparound lights, with key moments including strobe lighting pulsing to the sound of a heartbeat and a starting grid countdown to build excitement.
To fulfil F1 Arcade’s vision and bring the competition to life, Disguise’s creative services team leveraged Designer’s data integration in Notch to pull racing data directly from the simulators in real-time. This resulted in a dynamic leaderboard that displays instant results with each competitor’s name and finish time on various LED displays.
A Disguise EX 3+ media server powers the space, including the leaderboard. The company says this offers content flexibility to ensure that the lighting, audio and visual elements are synced 11 hours a day, seven days a week.
Alexandra Coulson, VP of marketing at Disguise, said: “In today’s world, experience is everything, and audiences are looking for activations that offer full immersion from all angles. With perfectly synced LED visuals, dramatic lighting and thundering audio, F1 Box puts visitors at the heart of the action, making them really feel like they are right there on the track. Disguise is the perfect solution for anyone looking to bring next-gen immersive experiences to life for fans, and we’re thrilled to have worked with F1 Box on this exciting new format.”
Adam Breeden, CEO at F1 Arcade, added: “When you’re simulating an experience as iconic as a Formula 1 grand prix, every detail matters. That’s why we’re so excited to collaborate with Disguise’s team. Using their software and hardware, we could streamline our workflow to create a perfectly detailed, synchronised immersive experience that allows anyone to step into the shoes of an F1 driver.”
To experience F1 Box, visit Westfield Stratford City from August 22. Slots are available to book online here, as well as some walk-ins.
