Team members will watch the races and make strategic decisions from inside the room

Extreme E command centre(1)

Extreme E has revealed the ‘Command Centre’ where key members will watch races and make strategic decisions.

Made in partnership with live event production specialists ADI, the room is expected to play a key part in broadcasts. The room aims to provide the look and feel of a state-of-the-art broadcast studio, despite the remote environments Extreme E travels to.

It features 2mm indoor LED screens and LED lighting fixtures, set around an arc-shaped desk that will host representatives from five teams during the race including drivers, team principals and engineers.

The teams will have access to team radio, TV feed and telemetry to make their decisions in the centre, which viewers will be able to watch unfold.

A team from ADI will manage and cue all audio, 4k video and lighting play-out inside the ‘Command Centre’, utilising a single software platform. The platform is capable of supporting up to 40 layers of digital media across the fine pitch LED screens, and allows changes to the studio AV to be triggered by live action that happens during the races.

Westbury Gillet, director at Aurora Media Worldwide, explained: “Think F1 pit wall unpacked but turned in on itself, and we are filming from the inside. However, each team’s principal, driver and engineer will be all together in this one room so they will be interacting.

“With the screens and lighting it will be futuristic, like a spaceship, and this will be complemented by the audio, which will be triggered at key moments. We’ve modified desks by bringing down the three monitors from the high position to a 45 degree angle along with talkback panels.

“There will be a LED screen wall wrapped all around, which will house different content from the race. We will also have LED and strip lights to light up the teams and the architecture of the structure, so for example, if a team is using HyperDrive in the race, that teams desk will light up purple.

“In addition, there will be multiple remote cameras and microphones capturing the teams reactions, which will be broadcast live to viewers at home.”

Extreme E has had to delay its start date due to the pandemic, but its first race weekend is expected to take place 3-4 April in Saudi Arabia.