29 Mar 2024 Attractions Management Handbook
 

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Attractions Management Handbook - Product Innovation - The industry’s latest products and innovations

Attractions-kit.net

Product Innovation - The industry’s latest products and innovations


For full company and contact details of the products, equipment and services featured here, please visit www.attractions-kit.net

Polin debuts world’s first transparent waterslide
The Glassy waterslide is the world’s first transparent waterslides

Polin Waterparks has launched the world’s first ever transparent composite slide.

One of three new products launched at IAAPA, the slide, called Glassy, was developed in the company’s R&D centre and is produced using Light Resin Transfer Molding (LRTM), a cost-effective manufacturing process that creates long-lasting and uniformly smooth/even products without creating environmental emissions. Unlike traditional acrylic waterslides, Glassy is completely transparent and the finish does not degrade over time.

Polin Waterparks has been championing this technique in the manufacture of waterslides since 2006, when it converted 100 per cent of its fibreglass production to LRTM.

“As a pioneer of the amusement industry, we are proud to announce Glassy Waterslide, which will make a dynamic difference in the industry.”

The slide builds on a number of Polin’s innovations including: special lighting effects and integrated sound effects, as well as transparent and patterned composites unique to the company.

Ali Cansun, R&D director said, “As a pioneer of the amusement industry, we are proud to announce Glassy Waterslide, which will make a dynamic difference in the industry.”

KEYWORD: POLIN

Aryzon headset lets guests ‘view the sky as an expert’, says Jeremy Fontana
Alexander Ceha, Aryzon

National Geographic has teamed up with augmented reality provider Aryzon to create the world’s first open-air planetarium, using AR to project images into the night sky for a unique stargazing experience.

Recently installed at Au Diable Vert in Quebec, Canada, ‘ObservEtoiles’ allows up to 180 visitors to observe the night sky with a digital overlay showing the constellations and names of the stars and planets.

The Aryzon headset uses mirrors to project 3D mixed reality images. Using the device, visitors can observe a selection of 17th-century illustrations of the constellations overlaid over the real stars and planets, without obstructing viewers’ line of sight.

“We wanted to create a headset that would display the stars with augmented overlay without detracting from the night sky experience,” explains Aryzon CFO and co-founder Alexander Ceha.

Users can keep the cardboard headset and use the app to explore the stars at home.

“We wanted to create a headset that would display the stars with augmented overlay without detracting from the night sky experience,” explains Aryzon CFO and co-founder Alexander Ceha.

The outdoor show will feature a “star guide”, who will narrate the experience with specially-created content from the “Night Sky Guy”, Andrew Fazekas – a science writer and consultant for the Canadian Space Agency.

“It’s been a really exciting project” says Jeremy Fontana, owner of Au Diable Vert and creator of ObservEtoiles. “You put the headset on and see the sky full of constellations. It lets you view the sky as an expert.”

Au Diable Vert has recently been certified as Quebec’s second Dark Sky Reserve, acknowledging efforts to remove light pollution from the area for clearer night skies.

KEYWORD: ARYZON

VR headset overlays constellations on the real night sky


Play Disney Parks app represents how the guest experience can be enhanced by digital technology, says Vivek Sharma
Vivek Sharma, Disney

Disney is gamifying its park experience, releasing a new app to add a layer of interaction.

Available as a free download at both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts, the ‘Play Disney Parks’ app has been created with group play in mind, offering visitors a new activity while waiting to ride its attractions.

Gamification of queue lines is a major part of the new application, with a number of interactive experiences available for select rides. At California Adventure, ‘Playset Party’ will be available for the Toy Story Mania ride.

The same ride at Hollywood Studios also offers the game, as well as ‘Andy’s Boardgame Blast!’ at the Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster.

Peter Pan’s Flight and Space Mountain have gaming experiences called ‘Off to Neverland’ and ‘Rocket Race’ respectively, with the same rides and games on offer at both parks.

“Play Disney Parks represents the next step in how we use innovative digital technology to enhance the guest experience in our parks,” says Vivek Sharma, senior vice president of Digital Guest Experience.

In addition, guests can earn, collect and share uniquely themed achievements, as well as rewards for playing games, answering trivia, completing challenges and experiencing select attractions.

“Play Disney Parks represents the next step in how we use innovative digital technology to enhance the guest experience in our parks,” says Vivek Sharma, senior vice president of Digital Guest Experience.

“The app is designed to help guests immerse themselves in the Disney stories they love.”

KEYWORD: DISNEY

The app offers visitors a new activity while waiting to ride attractions

‘Sensational space story, a perfect fit’ for new Mack VR coaster, says Michael Mack
Michael Mack, MackMedia

Mack Rides has teamed up with acclaimed film director Luc Besson to develop Eurosat Coastiality, a brand new VR dark coaster experience at Europa-Park.

Launched in August 2018, Eurosat Coastiality is based on Besson’s 2017 blockbuster Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and will take riders on an epic space-themed adventure.

Located inside the Eurosat sphere in the newly-renovated France-themed area, it will share its home with the Moulin Rouge-themed Eurosat-CanCan Coaster.

It will be the first attraction of its kind to host two rides, which use the same track, within the same space, and will feature a second station with a shift track and separate trains to accommodate the experience.

“I cannot imagine a better partner for the Eurosat Coastiality project,” says managing partner of MackMedia, Michael Mack.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets on Eurosat Coastiality will be both exceptional and exclusive,” explains Besson, chair of French motion picture company EuropaCorp.

“I cannot imagine a better partner for the Eurosat Coastiality project,” says managing partner of MackMedia, Michael Mack.

“The combination of Luc Besson and Valerian’s sensational space story is a perfect fit for us. I am happy to pick up on the popular space theme and offer it once again to our visitors,” Mack adds.

Mack Rides will work with VR Coaster to create and install the technical elements of the ride, while Mack’s media development arm – MackMedia – will create the 360-degree content for the rollercoaster, which riders will view on a VR headset.

KEYWORD: MACK

Filmmaker Luc Besson (above) previously worked with the Mack family to turn his Arthur IP into Europa-Park’s Minimoys Kingdom

Inition’s crowd participation tech ‘reinvents’ live experiences, says Adrian Leu
Adrian Leu, Inition

Inition, a UK-based tech innovation agency, has created a live-audience participation experience for Fast & Furious Live, a live entertainment experience based on the hit movie franchise.

The show features thrilling live-action sequences inspired by the films, where audience members can actively participate in the events taking place on stage. It also includes a live drag race where the audience is split into teams and given control of two real competing cars.

Inition created a bespoke crowd detection engine for the show, which gives the audience the power to dictate car speed, gear changes and vehicle customisation options simply by raising their voices or holding up voting cards at specific times.

The company also developed a large crowd gaming solution, using cameras, microphones, crowd sensors and advanced motion sensing technologies, to calibrate audience activity and turn it into real-time data to shape the on-stage action.

“By devising different permutations of cameras, microphones, crowd-sensing and advanced motion sensing technologies, we can completely reinvent the live experience. With the experience economy taking hold, these types of large crowd gaming ideas should be high on the agenda for all high-profile live events.”

Real-time visual feedback means the audience can see their choices via on-screen animated 3D renderings.

Dr Adrian Leu, who’s the CEO of Inition, says: “Thanks to the continual evolution of technology, audience participation mechanisms are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

“By devising different permutations of cameras, microphones, crowd-sensing and advanced motion sensing technologies, we can completely reinvent the live experience. With the experience economy taking hold, these types of large crowd gaming ideas should be high on the agenda for all high-profile live events.”

Potential applications for this technology for the attractions industry include interactive dark rides and live entertainment.

KEYWORD: INITION

The show features thrilling live-action sequences inspired by The Fast and the Furious film franchise

Panasonic brings Mickey and Minnie to life in Disney’s new immersive experience

Disney has released details of it’s new Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction.

Set to open in autumn 2019 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway dark ride is billed as a ‘zany out-of-control adventure’, where guests will find themselves transported into a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

It will feature ‘2 & ½ D’ technology, essentially 3D without glasses, as well as projectors and breakthrough technologies from Japanese electronics giant, Panasonic.

Named as the ‘Official Projection Technology’ for both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts in 2016, Panasonic already has a significant technological presence in attractions across the resorts, including the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland; the Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure Park; the Haunted Mansion and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom; Frozen Ever After and Bran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros at Epcot; and the Na’vi River Journey at Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

“Panasonic is proud to help Disney Parks immerse their guests in the animated world of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in a way that has never been done before,” Martin added.

Ron Martin, director at Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory – a division of the Panasonic Corporation in North America – said: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to once again provide cutting-edge projection technology for the first ever ride-through Mickey Mouse attraction.

“Panasonic is proud to help Disney Parks immerse their guests in the animated world of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in a way that has never been done before,” Martin added.

Tom LaDuke, principal show systems designer at Walt Disney Imagineering, explained: “The specific visual requirements of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction require imaging systems that meet the highest technical requirements of prevision colour rendition and brightness.

“Panasonic’s laser illuminated projectors do that extremely well. We look forward to working with Panasonic to push technological boundaries that bring our guests to places only previously achieved in their imaginations,” LaDuke added.

KEYWORD: PANASONIC

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction is set to open at Walt Disney World Resort later this year
Triotech partnered with Ubisoft to create an all-new free-roaming VR experience
Ernest Yale, Triotech

Media-based attraction developer Triotech has partnered with Ubisoft to create “Assassin’s Creed: The Temple of Anubis”, a new free-roaming virtual reality experience, developed exclusively for Triotech’s VR Maze attraction.

The eagerly awaited attraction is based on the action-adventure video game franchise, Assassin’s Creed.

The experience, which is set in Ancient Egypt, allows guests to step into the shoes of series hero Bayek. Players, as Bayek, explore mysterious temples, dodge arrows, walk on wooden planks and experience the iconic leap of faith made famous in the franchise.

“We’re continuing our expansion into other areas of entertainment, leveraging our popular game brands such as Assassin’s Creed to create new experiences for fans and to capture the imagination of new audiences.”

As the attraction is set inside a maze, players are able to physically touch the walls and obstacles that appear in the VR.

“We are really excited to partner with Ubisoft on the well-known franchise Assassin’s Creed. Already more than 100,000 people have experienced our VR Maze all over the world, and this next chapter will definitely widen its appeal,” said Triotech founder and CEO Ernest Yale.

Deborah Papiernik, senior VP of New Business at Ubisoft, said: “We’re continuing our expansion into other areas of entertainment, leveraging our popular game brands such as Assassin’s Creed to create new experiences for fans and to capture the imagination of new audiences.”

KEYWORD: TRIOTECH

Assassin’s Creed: The Temple of Anubis allows guests to step into the shoes of hero Bayek
Holovis targets cinema market with launch of new company
Heather Blair and Hayley Kenney

Experiential design firm Holovis is expanding its portfolio, launching a new company dedicated to creating attractions for the cinema market. Called Extended Cinema, the new business division will apply Holovis’s technology design expertise to cinemas, developing location-based entertainment offerings, which cinema-goers will be able to use before, after and even during a movie experience.

The new venture is being headed up by Heather Blair with support from Holovis business development manager Hayley Kenney.

“All our solutions are scalable, self-sufficient in operation and configured for the exact needs of the market,”

Prior to joining Holovis, Blair developed products within the interactive technology and motion theatre market, working with major film studios to procure titles to be programmed for 4D, then with theatre chains to bring them to life as a premium offering. In March, Blair was named among the Top 50 Women in Global Cinema by Celluloid Junkie – a leading online resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business.

“All our solutions are scalable, self-sufficient in operation and configured for the exact needs of the market,” said Blair, speaking about the launch.

“Our team allows us to provide a full turnkey solution, from media and content creation through to software configuration and engineering design and delivery. All of this will be done in such a way that the operator can regularly layer new content and customisable variations while obtaining real-time data analytics and behavioural feedback.”

Extended Cinema is split into three categories, the first of which is lobby experiences. In this area, Extended Cinema will offer pre and post-show entertainment options, generating new monetisation opportunities for movie theatres. The second category focuses on pre-show and audience interactivity, with new interactive experiences designed to maximise on-screen engagement and make cinema-goers want to take their seat. The third expands on the 4D Theatre model, with Holovis’s technology using effects such as water splashes, wind gusts, scents and physical prods to create a multi-sensory experience designed to complement the genre of the film.

“As we gained a deeper understanding of the state of the cinema market, it was clear that there is a strong synergy between the experiences we are creating for attractions and the needs of theatres,” said Holovis CEO, Stuart Hetherington.

“Heather’s passion for cinema is certainly infectious, she knows the industry inside out and her creativity and imagination knows no bounds.”

KEYWORD: HOLOVIS

Extended Cinema is a new venture from Holovis aimed at bringing new experiences to the cinema market
Amped Digital brings Real Madrid football experience to life with innovative video walls
Matt Steedman, Amped Digital

Australian digital signage company Amped Digital has completed a major tech integration for the Real Madrid World of Football Experience, a touring exhibition that is set to tour the world, visiting 15 cities over the next five years.

Created by Interp, a company specialising in the development and installation of temporary exhibits, the Real Madrid World of Football Experience blends physical interactive experiences with spectacular AV displays and playable gaming elements to immerse visitors in the club’s history.

Housed in a bespoke 50x40m touring pavillion, designed by Interp, the experience consists of four zones, taking visitors behind the scenes to discover the culture, passion, players and victories of Real Madrid. Memorabilia, including the club’s 13 UEFA Champions League Cups, the FIFA Club of the Century trophy, Golden Boot trophies and the Ballon d’Or trophy will also be on display.

Matt Steedman, director of Amped Digital, said: “We created an AV explosion: a spectacular immersive audio video experience that gets visitors excited and sets the expectation for what’s to follow.”

Two spectacular 18-screen video walls serve as a spectacular focal point at the exhibit entrance. Powered by 18 49” BrightSign HD panels and programmed by Amped Digital, the walls showcase bespoke video content designed by Tania Price from experiential design firm Immersive. Due to the scale of the project each screen had to be synchronised to ensure frame accuracy and seamless video playback, as a single discrepancy in the frames would ruin the overall effect.

Matt Steedman, director of Amped Digital, said: “We created an AV explosion: a spectacular immersive audio video experience that gets visitors excited and sets the expectation for what’s to follow.”

KEYWORD: AMPED DIGITAL

The video walls serve as a spectacular focal point at the entrance of the experience
Volcanoes 3D by SK Films opens at California Science Center
Jeff Rudolph, California Science Center

The California Science Center IMAX theatre in Los Angeles has launched a new 3D experience that will showcase the devastating power of volcanoes and their impact on the planet.

Volcanoes 3D: The Fires of Creation takes guests on an epic journey with intrepid explorer Carsten Peter as he scales an active volcano in Indonesia, descends to a lava lake in Vanuatu, visits geysers, acid ponds and mineral deposit fields in Ethiopia. Visitors join Peter as he explores Pompeii, visits hydrothermal vents in the ocean and witnesses the 2018 Kilauea eruption in Hawaii.

“We often think of volcanoes as being destructive, but they also build and play a beneficial role on the planet,” said Michael Dalton-Smith, director and producer of Volcanoes 3D.

“Volcanoes 3D offers the closest possible approximation to experiencing an eruption, or descending into a volcano, while remaining safe,” said Jeff Rudolph, president of the California Science Center. It was developed by SK Films, in partnership with Digital Crossing Films, a company specialising in natural history documentaries for IMAX and giant screens.

“We often think of volcanoes as being destructive, but they also build and play a beneficial role on the planet,” said Michael Dalton-Smith, director and producer of Volcanoes 3D. “I hope that the audience will come away with a better understanding of the forces that shaped the world we know today.”

KEYWORD: SK FILMS

The new 3D experience showcases the devastating power of volcanoes and their impact on the planet
photo: © shutterstock/Viacheslav Lopatin
Atlantic Productions unveils animation for ‘Sue’ exhibition at Chicago’s Field Museum
Anthony Geffen, Atlantic Productions

Atlantic Productions created cutting-edge animations for a new exhibition at The Field Museum in Chicago.

Sue, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever discovered at 40-ft long and 90 per cent complete, is the exhibition’s highlight.

The experience is located in its own 5,100sq ft private suite and showcases Sue’s life as it would have been during the Cretaceous period.

To create the immersive animations, Atlantic Productions worked closely with the museum’s resident palaeontologists: Dr Peter Makovicky, William Simpson and Dr Thomas Cullen, who were responsible for ensuring that every detail in the animation, down to the texture of Sue’s skin is scientifically accurate.

Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, said: “The work builds on our long history of projects with the innovative US museums sector which also includes Giant Screen film and television documentaries.”

Depicting epic scenes of a dramatic clash between Sue and a Triceratops and Sue stalking a herd of Edmontosaurus regalis, the animations are rendered in 6000 x 2160 pixels, accompanied by custom soundscapes featuring environmental noises from the landscape.

The animations are displayed on six rear-projection screens, each measuring 49 x 106” and spanning a total width of 24ft 6”.

Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, said: “The work builds on our long history of projects with the innovative US museums sector which also includes Giant Screen film and television documentaries.”

“We are enormously proud of these dramatic and visually stunning scenes. They form a perfect setting for this prestigious fossil which is the oldest, most complete and biggest T-Rex ever discovered.”

KEYWORD: ATLANTIC PRODUCTIONS

The company worked closely with the museum’s resident palaeontologists to ensure scientific accuracy
Simworx to install Ben 10 ride at Cartoon Network World in Kuwait
Terry Monkton, Simworx

Simworx, a creator of dynamic media-based attractions, has announced that it will install a Ben 10-themed Immersive Adventurer ride at FutureKid’s Cartoon Network World in Kuwait.

Expected to open in 2019, the ride will be a key attraction for the park, and will form part of a park-wide redevelopment that will see all of its current rides and attractions being replaced.

Terry Monkton, CEO of Simworx, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with FutureKid on this amazing project in Kuwait, bringing the first Immersive Adventurer to the Middle East region. We’re also delighted to be working with Cartoon Network in bringing the Ben 10 brand to life.”

A turn-key solution that offers a unique rider experience, the Immersive Adventurer is designed to fully-immerse riders by combining 4D effects with HD visuals and a surround-sound system.

A 16-seat vehicle situated on a 3DOF motion base provides dynamic motion, while 12 video screens surrounding the riders on all sides will immerse riders. Terry Monkton, CEO of Simworx, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working with FutureKid on this amazing project in Kuwait, bringing the first Immersive Adventurer to the Middle East region.

We’re also delighted to be working with Cartoon Network in bringing the Ben 10 brand to life.”

KEYWORD: SIMWORX

The Immersive Adventurer combines 4D effects with HD visuals and surround-sound


Originally published in Attractions Handbook 2018 edition

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