www.themeparkinsider.com: Virtual reality got off to a hot start a few years ago, as parks around the world - led by Six Flags - started adding virtual reality to roller coasters and drop rides. VR media breathed new life into a bunch of rides that had been languishing due to fan indifference, but their revival didn't last long. Fans hated the long waits for VR rides, as the time people needed to put on and adjust VR headsets slowed loading to a sleepy toddler's pace.
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I think there is a huge place for virtual reality in theme parks. I strongly believe that the rides of the future will involve virtual or augmented reality in some shape or form. To this device, there are already companies implementing virtual reality into their rides. For example, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita, California just opened a virtual reality roller coaster hybrid ride. Riders wear virtual reality glasses as they quickly are moved along the track of the roller coaster. The video being played in the headsets is perfectly sunk with each twist, turn and drop in order to make the rider feel like they are in a new world. This is almost the opposite of something like Space Tours at Disneyland or The Simpson's Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. In these rides, you barely move but the video you are watching makes it seem like you are moving a lot. In the virtual reality coaster, you are moving a lot and they are pairing the feeling of moving with a video to enhance the experience.
I disagree. I do not really think there is a future for virtual reality on theme parks. Or, at least, I hope not. To me, going to a theme park is about the physical experience of doing so. To spend a ton of money on a ticket, only to sit down in a chair and strap some virtual reality glasses onto my face to experience a pretend ride is not the point of theme parks. It is certainly not my cup of tea. I love roller coasters, and mainly it is because I can only experience them at specific locations. There is something special about in person rides, I cannot exactly explain it. Having a virtual reality roller coaster cheapens the experience to me. I am concerned that slowly real theme park rides will be phased out, until all we are left with is only virtual reality rides. That would be a rough future..
VR has a significant level of complexity when you start to talk about scalability. I understand the desire to create a unique experience for every viewer, but I often feel that VR implementation is forced for the viewer. Theme parks like six flags saw this tech as a must-do for their new rides, but I personally don’t think they put enough thought into how it would play with the world of the ride. I also agree with the author's statement that VR adds a level of complexity to the ride that naturally slows down the run time of the attraction. Being that VR is so new, you can only imagine how difficult it is to create a bulletproof system.
I believe that as the technology continues to improve, we will see more effective implementation to themed entertainment. If I was to suggest one thing to themed entertains it would be not to give up but instead continue to develop the idea.
This is a great look at how companies are trying to make VR works. One of the major complaints I hear about VR is that the tech is often prohibitively expensive and therefore almost financially dangerous to hand to guests to use without supervision. Splitting this into a two-step process of “unsupervised non-tech headset” and “supervised technology handling” is a great way to handle that conflict, as well as a time saving measure. Also, choosing to make the technology wired for a better visual experience and to cut down on motion sickness is huge. One of the largest problems with VR usage stems directly from the motion sick factor. I know I have major motion sickness issues without a VR headset playing video games or watching movies. VR only makes it worse. However, I think the main point of this article really rests in making VR its own experience. Without a solid story, there’s no reason for a VR experience. As Kelly pointed out, it’s the experience you go to a theme park for. If the story isn’t solid, I’m not paying for a cheap magic trick of tech. I want to have an experience. VR can create that experience, but it takes care from the story tellers in using this new technology.
I think that AR has a lot more potential than VR when it comes to the theme parks. I think part of the appear of theme parks in being in a physical place and actually seeing the scenery around you… though maybe that is just me since I spent most of my time on rides at theme parks looking at whatever scenery they have around the rides and thinking about how those elements were constructed. I think that making the entire experience virtual, especially if it is just a movie, will make people feel like they’d be better off saving for a VR headset to just have at home. You can get a VR headset for a couple hundred dollars at this point, which isn’t cheap, but is still cheaper than two people going to a theme park, assuming it isn’t local, since you then need to factor in travel, hotel stays, and food on top of ticket prices. I think with AR you could combine the appeal of the physical reality with additional effects that would be impossible to create as a practical or make the experience more customized to each rider by having them be able to make choices that influence the AR around them. That doesn’t really solve the headset issue still, but I think the logistics of that might actually be easier to sort out for AR since a more minimal headset could probably function since you don’t need to completely block out the light/ world around the wearer.
I have never really tried VR because I am super sensitive to light and motion sickness. However, I think it really is interesting and can be an individualized way to tell a story. On a roller coaster ride, you are there for the thrill of going fast, high, and zipping around turns. So in that space I don't really see any rider wanting to understand a story along the way, they just want to scream and have the adrenaline rush. However on rides that are not just for the thrill of the movement, there is a way to integrate story telling that is improved by physical movement. My biggest issue with VR is that you have this headpiece on and then a screen right in front of your eyes, and you know instantly how fake it is. With so many rides at theme parks the best part is that so much of it is real, there are robot characters and designed decorations - VR takes that away.
I, unlike many people, really enjoy the idea of VR in amusement parks. Growing up in Florida meant theme parks were much more accessible to me than to most, but that doesn’t mean I love roller-coasters. In fact, I hate roller-coaster. I get nauseous and sick and usually end up throwing up or just having a bad day after trying to ride one. They completely ruin my experience at amusement parks, but I love the concept of them. Virtual reality rides would allow people like me, who’s bodies literally cannot handle roller-coasters, feel like they are still experiencing the fun. While it seems like VR rides would take out the whole physical part of amusement parks, they could be really exciting to people who are prone to motion sickness, the elderly, or even younger kids who are too scared to ride big coasters. I don’t think they should be replacing normal roller-coasters, but I definitely think could heighten the experience of them, and create alternative experiences for other audiences.
I believe that VR has a lot of potential in theme parks. Theme parks are the playground for VR workers because it allows them to create a reality that does not exist, something that excites me.
Everyone is aware of the reality. There is nothing exciting about it. That is why it becomes even more interesting to create a reality that does not exist, hence giving people an option to experience something that they did not imagine they would ever experience. It is because of this reason that VR has great potential in theme parks.
These are places where people go to have fun, to get away from the stress of lives and enjoy something that is new and playful. This experience is taken to another level when people are made to experience different stuff, something that they have not experienced before.
This ensures the success of the theme park, something very desirable to the creators of the theme park and satisfying to the creators of the concerned virtual reality.
This article brings up a lot of accurate reasons for why the VR industry as it relates to theme parks has declined in popularity. I think the article hit the nail on the head when it said that VR elements can simply rely on the technology to sell the experience to the customer. I had really never realized the fact that most VR experiences I have been to were overlaid on top of declining rides in an effort to remarket them. I think the article is completely right when it says that another important reason for the loss of interest in VR is the fact that the story telling was an afterthought when it really should have been one of the most important aspects because that's one of the main things that audience will see. I enjoyed hearing about the solutions that Falcon's creative group is coming up with to solve these problems and I hope that it leads to some amazingly entertaining rides.
In my opinion, going to a theme park and enjoying an attraction is similar to going to a theatre, sure you can watch it on a screen and enjoy it that way but physically being immersed in the environment with all the other tactile elements that come with it can only be fully appreciated when portrayed in real life. VR just seems like an short movie with a fancy headset. What's to differ from something played on a VR headset in disney world to at home on a VR headset. In both places your watching a movie on a fancy screen, big whop. I would much rather be in a combined expanded VR and physical experience. For instance in a roller coaster simulation at the Boston Museum Of Science, you sit in a capsule that generates many aspects of being on a rollercoaster from the flips to the turns and tilts with a large screen showing the world in front of you. This seems like a suitable VR application, the VR experience is only a small portion of the attraction mostly dominated by the physical movements of the capsule. Overall, I have no doubt the technology will continue to expand, and I hope the creators keep the physical aspects of VR in mind
Virtual reality seems to be the newest trend in entertainment, soon to be followed by augmented reality I imagine. Truthfully, the idea of integrating VR into theme park attractions is usually followed by a gut reaction of “NO” from me. I suppose I just have this vision in my head of everyone donning VR glasses before boarding King Da Ka, which seems like a recipe for some vertigo and an unpleasant time for the park clean-up crew. But I know objectively people aren’t talking about throwing VR into a high speed roller coaster when they broach this subject. They are talking about slower attractions, like anything you’ll find in a Disney park. I’m of the opinion that if a ride goes so slow integrating VR is safe, you should just scrap the whole attraction and build another roller coaster. But I understand not everyone else in the world feels the way I do on this subject. But I have to wonder if VR is even worth the time or energy. I supposed if the attraction is built around it, it has the potential to be successful, like the article mentioned. But in general, I think that type of integration is still several years out from being widely successful.
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