Immersive experiences have long been available at theme parks. Theme parks, from Universal Studios' Hollywood nostalgia to Epcot's cosmopolitan adventures, provide a gateway out of everyday life and into new worlds. However, evolving technologies are forcing parks to step up their game. The use of virtual reality in theme parks is not new. Disney Quest, which included two early VR experiments: Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and Ride the Comix, was released in 1998. Unfortunately, both attractions made visitors dizzy.
Virtual reality technological innovation has altered the landscape of the theme park industry. Theme parks are incorporating virtual reality into existing attractions and developing virtual reality stand-alone rides. Traditional theme parks are investing millions of dollars in VR technology to increase attendance, while other organizations are investing billions in dedicated VR theme parks.
The push to increase VR tourism is influencing various trends in marketing and hospitality, creating new career opportunities for those interested in a career in hospitality.
VR Theme Park
Virtual reality theme parks and attractions use virtual reality technology to provide tourists with a unique and thrilling experience that is unlike previous iterations of theme park attractions. Disney Regional Entertainment opened DisneyQuest, an interactive VR theme park, in Orlando in 1998. DisneyQuest was innovative because it housed the first VR theme park attractions from Disney in a 100,000-square-foot space, including rides like Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam. In 2017, the space was demolished to make way for an NBA attraction.
With existing roller coasters, water slides, and drop towers, theme parks began incorporating virtual reality technology. Riders are given LED-display VR headsets. These headsets immerse riders in a virtual world that corresponds to the attraction's movements. The first VR rollercoaster, Galaxy Express, was created in 2003 at Bremen's Space Center Bremen. Alpenexpress Coastiality, which opened in 2015 at Europa-Park in Germany, is one of the oldest operating VR rollercoasters. Originally, the ride used Samsung Electronics Gear VR headsets to provide an exciting, technology-based sensory experience.
While the majority of theme parks use VR technology on existing rides or as stand-alone experiences, the industry is shifting toward fully dedicated VR theme parks. In 2018, China opened one of the world's first VR theme parks. The VR Star Theme Park is located in the Guizhou province. Over 40 VR-focused rides are available at the park, ranging from stand-alone attractions to more traditional theme park rides with a VR overlay. The park's construction cost more than $1.5 billion.
The world's largest VR theme park, located in Dubai, offers a variety of interactive VR experiences. The park has collaborated with American television and film companies to offer branded VR attractions such as The Walking Dead Outbreak to visitors.
THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual reality is one of the technologies with the greatest growth potential. According to the most recent IDC Research (2018) forecasts, investment in VR and AR will more than double over the next four years, reaching 15.5 billion euros by 2022. Furthermore, both technologies will be critical to companies' digital transformation plans, with spending in this area exceeding that of the consumer sector by 2019. As a result, it is expected that by 2020, more than half of the largest European companies will have a VR and RA strategy.
In today's market, users want applications that go beyond leisure, tourism, or marketing and are more affordable. Virtual interfaces must also be improved to avoid flaws like clipping, which causes certain solid objects to appear as if they can be passed through. Or to mitigate the effects that VR has on people, such as motion sickness, which is characterized by dizziness caused by a mismatch between our body's movement and what is seen in the virtual world.
The major technology companies are already working on developing headsets that do not require cables and can display images in high definition. They are working on 8K Virtual Reality headsets with much more powerful processors. There is even talk of incorporating Artificial Intelligence in the coming years. The most recent 5G standard may also provide very interesting scenarios for VR evolution. This standard will enable the connection of more devices and large user communities. Furthermore, its nearly imperceptible latency will allow consumers to receive images in real-time, almost as if they were seeing them with their own eyes.
Comments
Post a Comment