Demonstration of Cooperative Autonomy

End Client: WMG at the University of Warwick
Agency Client: L3 Pilot Research Dissemination

The L3 Pilot was a six-year EU-funded project that involved a large consortium of 34 international partners, including WMG at the University of Warwick, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes Benz and many more. The L3 Pilot research focused on testing new technologies with the aim being to achieve a widespread level of safe autonomy across road vehicles. As part of this, WMG wanted to create a video that showcased the performance of the Catapult test vehicle, which combines information from multiple sensors and shares this with the driver of the vehicle offering real-time developments, such as traffic, collisions and obstructions – an important tool in the development of the autonomous vehicle.

The video was to capture the conclusion of the research, which was signified by a demonstration of an autonomous vehicle approaching and navigating through a live T-Junction, with examples of key pieces of information being presented to the driver in real time via an onboard digital display in the vehicle. Accompanying this showcase would be several contributor talking heads, who would talk through the demonstration itself but also explain the various objectives and aspirations of the project, creating further stakeholder and policymaker engagement, and potentially generating additional funding and research opportunities. The films would be shared online but also have a significant presence at an upcoming sector conference.

Whilst the talking head contributions were extremely important, special emphasis was placed on capturing the demonstration, as the client wanted to present real-time accurate information from a wide variety of angles. The information presented on screen had to be correct, as any inaccuracy in the data would be extremely damaging to the reputation of the research team. With this in mind, a filming day was set aside to capture the demonstration and a large section of the Univerity campus was closed off to the public. Through careful planning with the team, we were able to identify the correct locations to place four cameras to capture the approach from all angles. Five GoPro cameras were set up by our team to capture video streams from locations on the car that a camera operator couldn’t get to, and the research team captured all data from the vehicles across their various data-ingesting machines in real time. In addition, a drone picked up overhead shots, capturing the demonstration from a bird’s eye view. This meant that when it came to the editing process, there were over twenty angles of the demonstration to choose from.

As our video production crew created a storyboard in advance of the shoot, the visuals and talking head soundbites were put in place fairly quickly in the early stages of the editing process. The motion-tracked graphics were the trickiest part, as they had to track the action on screen, but also present 100% accurate information (provided by the research team). This meant that the edit came under significant scrutiny and many rounds of the amendment cycle. The videos were placed across YouTube, LinkedIn and the university website, as well as being played out at several conferences and seminars, where they received excellent feedback. After this project, Slate and Mortar were invited to produce a second research dissemination film for WMG, this time focussing on their CARMA research project. The project can be seen, here.