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.

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.

attractions-kit keyword : INITION

Canadian dynamic media-based attractions developer CAVU Designwerks (CAVU) has partnered with Macrolink Group to supply a new turn-key flying theatre attraction at the upcoming Tongguan Kiln International Cultural and Tourism Centre in Changsha, China.

Billed as a unique and exhilarating flying experience, the attraction, titled Beautiful Hunan, takes guests on an exhilarating journey across Hunan, showcasing breathtaking sites and historical locations. Riders will soar over the ancient kilns of Tongguan, the Wulingyuan mountains (which inspired Avatar), the Yeuyang Tower, Mao Zedong’s house and Changsha city.

CEO Peter Schnabel says: “CAVU is thrilled to be a part of this culturally significant project that showcases the history of the Hunan region.

“We are especially excited about the addition of several revolutionary drone-captured segments in the media that are perfectly synchronized with the motion, bringing a new vantage point for this attraction.”

CAVU will serve as the ride integrator and will be responsible for the installation of the AV equipment, media and ride programming.

The centre is expected to open in June 2018 and is a historical destination resort that offers themed experiences based on Chinese tradition and culture.

attractions-kit keyword : CAVU

Immersive experience design firm Holovis has launched Ride and Realm, a next-generation concept designed to give guests personalised experiences using real-time media.

During a dark ride, guests control their experience via onboard interactive technology. As they exit the ride, they download an app that extends the ride’s narrative. Using the app, guests can solve puzzles and unlock achievements as they travel through the park. When they return to the dark ride, their experience changes to reflect their progress.

Proximity beacons, geo-fencing and WiFi triangulation enable users to navigate the park using a live, digital map and guides users in a scavenger hunt, offering clues throughout. It also allows users to unlock levels, play games and interact with live actors.

The experience can even be extended as the app features games and tasks that can be completed outside the park.

Peter Cliff, creative director at Holovis, says: “Ride and Realm presents a near limitless experiential attraction that is always different and truly re-ridable. Whatever you do within the ride or across the park has a real-time impact on the adventure that unfolds before you. This is more than gamification and non-linearity: this is letting people determine their own destiny whilst being at the heart of a multidimensional, compelling narrative.

“We see this expanding so that all park-wide media, both on and off rides, reacts differently for every individual, depending on where they are in their game and evolving storyline. This is a revolution in park-wide personalisation.”

attractions-kit keyword: HOLOVIS

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, have developed a method of creating 3D images that float in mid-air.

The research group, which includes holography expert Dr Daniel Smalley, took inspiration from a scene in the first Star Wars film, where R2D2 projects a 3D image of Princess Leia. The famous projection – widely believed to be a hologram – is actually a volumetric image.

Holographic images are created by light scattered across 2D surfaces, and can only be seen when the viewer is looking directly at the surface. A volumetric image is a 3D rendering created when light is scattered across a number of different points spread across a 3D space, meaning it can be seen from every angle.

To create the images, the group developed a free-space volumetric display platform, based on photophoretic optical trapping.

“It’s like a 3D printer for light,” says Smalley. “You’re actually printing an object in space with these little particles. We’re providing a method to make a volumetric image that can create the images we imagine we’ll have in the future.”

The study was co-authored by Erich Nygaard, a BYU undergraduate. Explaining the process, he says the method uses a laser beam to trap particles in the formation of images. “When we trap the particle, we can steer the laser beam around to move the particle and create the image.”

Volumetric imagery is being researched by groups outside BYU. However, Smalley’s team is the first to effectively utilise optical trapping and colour.

attractions-kit keyword : BYU

AV specialist Fusion has been named as the tech integrator behind Merlin Entertainment’s Little Big City attraction in Berlin, Germany.

The attraction, which takes visitors on a journey through Berlin’s history dating all the way back to the Middle Ages, was in development for two and a half years.

Merlin’s creative team partnered with production company Figment Productions and Fusion to create the attraction, which features 3D interactive miniature sets and projection mapping to showcase key events and bring the experience to life.

Fusion was responsible for the installation of all the AV tech, which included approximately 100 speakers, 36 projectors and 15 screens, carefully placed in and around the model sets.

The company installed a range of Optoma projectors including the Optoma ZH400 ultra short throw laser projector and the ZU510 laser projectors.

Fusion’s director Ian Carling says: “We used mostly Optoma lamp-free laser projectors as they provide 20,000 hours operation with virtually no maintenance. We also chose laser because they offer versatile orientation, including portrait mode and downward projection, which gave us the flexibility we needed.

“Optoma projectors deliver high-quality imagery while being reliable and cost-effective. We knew they would deliver the team’s ambitious vision within the budget without compromising quality or reliability.

“Little Big City brings the history of the city to life in a very entertaining way. Visitors get absorbed in the stories and experience a real mix of emotions as they walk through.

“This emotional response is not just due to the content but also how it is delivered – the sounds and special effects play a major role in making this such an exciting attraction to visit. We are really pleased with the performance of the AV equipment. It looks brilliant.”

attractions-kit keyword : FUSION