At the 'Tokyo Autosalon 2010 with NAPAC' held at the Makuhari Messe of the Chiba Prefecture on January 15, the Toyota Motor Corporation and 'Gran Turismo' announced a new collaboration which involves vehicle data and GPS coordinates.

This collaboration revolves around real life CAN (Controller Area Network) data (used to manage the performance of a car) and GPS positioning data. Those data are then processed by 'Gran Turismo' to reproduce a visualisation of the recorded ride, in real time.

Simply put, CAN and GPS data recorded on a real car is exported onto a USB memory stick, and by feeding this data into Gran Turismo's simulation engine, this real life driving data is visualised as a replay image in the software itself.

You can then race against the resulting ghost car or even use it to analyse your real performances on a race track. CAN data includes features like forward/aft and right/left G forces, steering, brake, accelerator operations and engine rpm, as well as the rotational speeds of each wheel, and combined with positional data, the recorded drive of a real life car on the road will be accurately reproduced on screen.

On stage at the Toyota booth, actual driving data taken from a real life lap of a Toyota IS-F on the Fuji Speedway, driven by 2009 Super GT Champion Juichi Wakisaka, was reproduced in Gran Turismo. The level of precision of this system was proven by comparing on-screen the visual footage from the real life driving lap against the reproduction within Gran Turismo.

Please look forward to the new challenges and works of both Toyota and 'Gran Turismo'.