As the Tour de Tohoku rapidly approached, Mapbox Japan’s Tour de Tohoku project team traveled to Ishinomaki City and Onagawa Town in Miyagi Prefecture on Friday, September 2nd, just two weeks before the event. The team conducted an on-site real-time map operation test to ensure everything was in place for the event. Team leader Hidenori Yagi shares insights from this important site visit.

The main objectives of the visit were to verify key aspects of the real-time map operation, focusing on several crucial issues:

• Will the real-time map function correctly on a production server in a local environment?
• Have the issues encountered during the Tokyo test been resolved?
• How will on-site operational procedures, staff placements, and equipment be handled on the day of the event?

The competition course covers challenging terrain, including mountainous coastal routes, which raised concerns about communication reliability. This site visit focused particularly on verifying the communication environment, which was identified as a potential obstacle to successful real-time map delivery.

The site visit and key verification areas

The team’s primary focus was the 26km stretch between the Onagawa Aid Station and the Shin Kitakami Bridge, where the communication environment was expected to be most challenging. The course, which includes several ups and downs along the ria coast, as well as tunnels (including a 1km-long tunnel), posed unique challenges for communication reliability.

On-site testing: System and process

For effective testing, the team conducted the verification from a car, moving slowly along the route rather than using bicycles. The test involved one driver and two verification staff members in the car, with three additional development team members participating remotely.

A mobile phone terminal was installed in the car for live video streaming, while the official event app, designed to collect rider location data, was also tested. The real-time map, including both front-end and back-end processing, was verified under conditions simulating the actual event day.

Communication challenges and solutions

As expected, the communication environment was more challenging than anticipated. At multiple points along the route, 4G network speeds were insufficient, and live video streaming frequently dropped out. However, thanks to prior planning, the streaming app included an auto-reconnect function that allowed the service to resume automatically when the connection was restored. This feature was crucial for ensuring continuous video streaming even in areas with sporadic coverage, such as mountain sections and tunnels.

In particular, the team was pleased to discover that the 1km-long tunnel, one of the biggest concerns, did not cause any significant communication issues. Video streaming continued smoothly throughout the tunnel, marking a key success for the team.

Improvements to rider positioning

The official event app, which tracks rider location, was enhanced after the Tokyo test to provide more accurate real-time updates. The app now sends rider location data to the server once per minute, and in the interim, the real-time map backend estimates rider positions based on the last recorded speed, ensuring the map stays up-to-date even during moments of non-update. This system showed significant improvements, with the lidar-based position estimates closely matching the GPS real-time data.

Enhancing the viewer experience

Beyond operational testing, the team focused on improving the user experience for those viewing the real-time map. A new "replay feature" allows users to search for a specific rider by nickname, enabling friends and family to follow their loved ones’ progress on the map after the event. Additionally, the team implemented a “Twitter List Display Feature (#TourdeTohoku)” to show tweets from riders and messages of support from fans, alongside a "Support Button" that lets viewers send virtual encouragement to the riders.

Ongoing updates to the real-time map

The real-time map will continue to be refined and updated in the lead-up to the event. These ongoing updates ensure that viewers will have access to an interactive and engaging experience when following the race on the day. From tracking individual riders to supporting the event with messages and interactions, the map is designed to offer a variety of features for users.

This pre-event visit also offered the team a chance to witness firsthand the lasting impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the region’s remarkable recovery efforts. The real-time map Tohoku support project aims to contribute to the success of the event while helping preserve the memory of the disaster and continue supporting the local community.

With the event just around the corner, the team at Mapbox Japan is excited to see the real-time map in action, bringing people closer to the Tour de Tohoku experience while supporting the riders and the local area in a meaningful way.