Sage · UNLEASH World 2026 · October 2026 · Paris Convention Centre, Paris, France
How Sage put 458 racers on a mind-controlled Scalextric grid in Paris
At UNLEASH World 2026 in Paris, Sage turned its stand into a mind-controlled Grand Prix: a hand-built Paris Scalextric circuit raced on concentration alone. 458 racers lined up in two show days.
UNLEASH World is where the HR world meets the future of work. In October 2026 it filled the Paris Convention Centre with over 250 exhibitors and thousands of international HR leaders, tech buyers and corporate strategists, all under one theme: Repurposing Humanity in the Age of Machines. Sage wanted its stand to be the one people talked about. We built Racer, the Mind-Controlled Grand Prix: a bespoke Paris Scalextric circuit with the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, a corner café and Sage-liveried cars, raced by two players using nothing but their concentration. Everyone knew the cars. Nobody had raced them with their mind. In two show days, 458 racers lined up to try.
The challenge
UNLEASH World 2026 ran from 20 to 22 October at the Paris Convention Centre, with over 250 exhibitors competing for the attention of thousands of HR leaders, tech buyers and corporate strategists. The theme was Repurposing Humanity in the Age of Machines: how AI, automation and new technology work alongside human potential. Sage wanted to stand out and become a conversation point at the show. The brief: drive footfall to the stand and start a genuinely human conversation by combining nostalgia and innovation in one experience.
What we built
A bespoke mind-controlled Scalextric circuit, built around Paris and around Sage. The 2.75m × 1.22m circuit sat in a plinth made by Sage's stand builder on stand 121. In five weeks our workshop hand-built a miniature Paris around it: the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, a corner café, a pit building, a grandstand, a Sage bridge over the track and a fleet of Sage-liveried cars. Then we gave the diorama a soundtrack. Accordion music drifted from the café and engines were tuned in the pits, so the scene sounded like Paris as well as looking like it. Two EEG headsets read each player's focus and turned it into speed, with live focus scores on the big screen and a leaderboard running all day.
The experience
Two players step up, put on the headsets and stand perfectly still. The harder they concentrate, the faster their car goes. No controllers, no buttons. Just two people staring down a track, a crowd gathering behind them and focus scores climbing on the big screen. The cars stopped people in the aisle because everyone recognised them. The mind control gave them a reason to step in. The scenery made it feel built for UNLEASH rather than shipped in. Every race ended with applause, a place on the leaderboard and, more often than not, a call for a rematch. It was the theme of the show, made playable: human focus driving the machine.
The result
458 racers in two show days: 246 on day one and 212 on day two. Crowds gathered to watch, players came back for rematches and the leaderboard kept the stand busy across both days. Nostalgia got people to stop. Innovation got them to race. The conversation that followed was about people and technology, exactly where Sage wanted it.
What it delivered
- 458
- Racers · Leaderboard race entries
- 2
- Show days
- 5 weeks
- Build
458 racers in two show days 246 racers on day one, 212 on day two Bespoke Paris circuit built in five weeks Localised sound: accordion from the café, engines tuning in the pits Stand 121, UNLEASH World 2026, Paris Convention Centre
“Thanks as ever to you and the team it was a great success!”
Sage
Mark Reilly, UKIA Events Lead
