Lewis Hamilton would have loved a GoPro GoKart when he was younger, of that we’re sure. Because as every petrolhead knows, go-karting is the first step towards a stellar Formula One career. Everyone from Ayrton Senna to Michael Schumacher started in karts. Famously, the boy who became seven-time F1 champion Sir Lewis was driven by his father to kart races across Europe, where Hamilton Snr would watch the yellow helmet of his son and monitor any mistakes. That’s where the technology beneath the sleek lines of the concept GoPro GoKart you see here come in: with cameras to record the kart driver’s every move and - crucially - every mistake.
Let’s focus on the shape for a moment, though. GoPro is of course the company which has dominated the rugged action camera market, with increasingly miniaturised devices featuring increasingly detailed imagery. Looking to the future is what this company is all about. That’s what the GoPro GoKart is designed to do. If exterior design is indicative of internal genius, then the streamlined GoPro GoKart, looking like it’s an extra from ‘Bladerunner’, has it taped. Matte finish is a signal of intent, while there are obvious signs in the concept of the use of carbon fibre, used extensively in Formula One cars. Diffusers to the rear mimic those on F1 machinery.
As you’d expect from this company, however, the key to the appeal of the GoPro GoKart concept lies in its 360º image-recording. Four cameras are incorporated in the GoPro GoKart in all: one faces forward, there’s a camera to each side and one to the rear. Suit on, helmet secure and ready to go? Slot your smart phone into the slot provided in the rectangular steering wheel as you slide into your sleek ride. GoPro GoKart will recognise who you are from your phone, and allow you to start up: just tap a button to the left of the wheel and you’re fired up and ready to go. Ignore, for a moment, the envious looks from drivers of more rudimentary machinery.
On track, the cameras record all that you’ve set them up to monitor. Your smartphone downloads all of the statistics, so there’s no escaping that over zealous slide into the final turn. What’s more, artificial intelligence is envisaged to put together a still more accurate picture. As GoPro boss and the brains behind the GoPro GoKart Sean Gao has told journalists: “AI would deliver a personal highlight video from all the footage that the cameras have captured to help the user relive their fastest lap.”
Will the GoPro GoKart make production? We’re hoping it will, not least because we like the look of the vintage Champagne that’s available on Formula One podiums. If you think that’s looking ahead just a little far, remember those days when a young Lewis Hamilton was in the passenger seat of a beat-up van, being driven to his next kart race. We can all dream.
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