In the run up to the Tour de France, a client asked me if hotel guests could experience the well-known cycling race in 3D in their rooms. The answer at the time was unfortunately no as the event was not rebroadcast in 3D, compounded by the lack of standards and 3D hotel mode TVs.

However, we at Acentic decided to research how to potentially bring a 3D experience to our customers. Two Acentic employees were volunteered to this task - myself, Juan Aguirre, and our CFO Stuart Radcliffe. With 3D supposedly being as close to reality as one can get, we both decided to enter in a similar, but not quite equivalent experience to the Tour De France. That is The Royal British Legion’s Pedal to Paris cycle ride, taking place Sept. 1-5, 2011.

Our 22-rider Team Manpower, co-sponsored by Acentic, will join 300 others and embark on a four-day, 480km trip from London all the way to Les Champs Elysees. The event raises money for the fine institution that is The Royal British Legion to care for serving and ex-members of the British Armed Forces and their families.

In addition to fund raising, we see this four-day trip as valuable research into what a 3D Tour de France experience should be, albeit our cycle seats won’t be as comfortable as a living room armchair and our Lycra outfits are probably the last thing you want to see. However, whilst you await that 3D hotel experience (could be some time yet), please don’t hesitate to support our efforts at the following websites:

http://www.justgiving.com/juan-aguirre  or  http://www.justgiving.com/TeamManpower2011

All donations will go directly to The Royal British Legion. In the meantime, Stuart and I are busy training, shedding kilos and looking forward to a beer on the Champs Elysees as a reward for our four days of effort.