What is your most recent dark ride?
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis 4D, in Six Flags over Texas and Six Flags St Louis. The interactive dark ride is based on the famous Warner Bros / DC Comics IP. It was designed by Sally Corporation, with Alterface Projects’ interaction and gameplay system, custom motion-based vehicles from Oceaneering and video animation by Pure Imagination.

What are the current trends?
We’re in an exciting era for dark rides. New technologies like interaction, 3D graphics, 4D effects, video projection mapping, vehicles with new capabilities and many others are now blended together with traditional dark ride features like true-to-life scenery and animatronics. This mix of new technologies makes dark rides even more immersive. IPs are also a big deal these days because the story is the heart of a dark ride attraction. Teaming up with the best storytellers makes a lot of sense.

Have you made any engineering, design or manufacturing breakthroughs or advancements?
As the one stop company for interactive technologies in amusement parks and attractions, we’re currently developing new ways for the guests to interact, beyond the usual laser gun. Some of our latest advancements don’t require any interactive device to play – you can play with hand gestures alone. Besides creating new gameplay, we’re also improving our existing system, for instance by getting rid of the physical target boxes. We’ve also created the first interactive fog screen with targets that guests ride through on Justice League.

What have been the biggest changes for ride makers in recent times?
Attractions based on IPs have quickly become a major trend, but their success can fade if the franchise doesn’t release new content for a while. IPs are appealing for obvious marketing reasons but, as ride makers, we need to ensure our attractions stay relevant and popular in the long term.

What’s on the horizon?
We have a bunch of dark ride attractions based on famous IPs in the pipeline. IP owners need to be very careful that their brands and characters are in good hands, so we’re proud to be regarded by them as a reliable and faithful partner for IP-based attractions; from our first dark ride inspired by Lego toys in 2009 to the hit cartoon Huntik and Marvel and DC Comics’ superheroes ... and more big names that we can’t reveal yet.

What is your most recent product, and what makes it stand out?
We most recently collaborated on an interactive, dynamic motion dark ride vehicle that is very unique. It is one of the first dark ride vehicles in the world to have a strong heave motion.

Have you made any engineering, design or manufacturing breakthroughs or advancements?
We’ve been able to take the core technology from our motion rides and add that to the dark ride experience in a highly cost effective way. We’ve also developed some very interesting environment effects that we hope to use in future projects.

What are the current main trends in creating a dark ride?
We’re seeing a lot of dark ride attractions add motion and interactivity to the experience. We believe that passive rides are still the best way to tell a story, but interactivity is here to stay as well.

Can you describe the current market climate? How do you stay ahead of the competition?
With the theme park market in general – and especially the Asian market – flourishing, demand for high quality rides is at an all-time high. Our focus is on continuing to build systems that are unique and maximise immersion in the story.

What are you doing that other dark ride makers aren’t?
Simuline has the unique advantage of not just being a hardware company. We have the resources to produce Hollywood-calibre content as well – and together with our years of experience creating motion rides and 4D theatres, we believe that bringing that know-how to dark rides has put us in a position to create a truly unique product.

What’s on the horizon for you as a company?
Our standalone products have been installed in hundreds of sites across the globe and in recent years, we’ve had the good fortune to be involved in some major theme parks as well. Drawing on these experiences, we’re in the process of developing some very interesting systems for future projects.

And for the wider ride-making industry?
With continuing technological advances in ride-related systems such as AV and interactive technology, we’re excited about the kinds of ride experiences that may appear in the near future.

What is your most recent dark ride?
Our most recent dark ride project is Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knott’s Berry Farm in California. It’s a media-based dark ride that’s interactive. Guests are, therefore, an intricate part of the experience as opposed to passive observers. This ride stands out for the quality of the immersion, the intense interaction with hundreds of digital creatures throughout the ride, the integration of physical elements with the media, the competitive scoring which drives repeat visits, and its wide age group appeal.

It was important to the park that we designed a ride that everyone in a family would want to ride again and again. The objective was to have all guests – parents, kids, teenagers, even grandparents – want to do the ride again because they enjoyed it.

Have you made any engineering, design or manufacturing breakthroughs or advancements?
The number one advancement is interactivity. Allowing guests to be an active participant in the ride greatly augments the experience. Media-based rides allow almost endless possibilities when it comes to how and where interactivity occurs, especially when compared to earlier laser-based technology where the guest had to aim at a specific marked target. This is important; targets can appear anywhere on an oversized screen. The place they appear can even be changed overnight. Compare that to a specific laser “red-dot” target which is always at the same place and it is clear that for guests it’s a lot more fun when they can interact “everywhere”.

Content can be changed on media-based rides. New content attracts guests for repeat visits and this drives the park’s revenues up. A case in point is Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto. Their interactive dark ride, called Wonder Mountain’s Guardian, features a quest to recover the king’s lost crown. However, in Halloween season, the ride is changed to a Zombie adventure. The park has seen increased attendance compared to previous years, which has had a positive financial impact.

How do you stay ahead of the competition?
It’s constant innovation, with technology but also with know-how. Technology is important and we invest a lot of money into it, but the other thing Triotech excels at is know-how. This core competency drives our ability to integrate all the elements – technology, content, storytelling, gaming, competition, themeing, special effects, audio – into one compelling experience for guests.

What’s on the horizon for you as a company?
Seamless integration of the ride itself with pre- and post-ride elements. Whether it is using social media or interactivity, guests will benefit from an augmented experience. We’re launching brand new interactive technology that will be triggered strictly with hand gestures, with no need for guns or other interactive devices.

What is your most recent/current dark ride, and what makes it stand out?
Simworx has a distinctive variety of dark rides and the 360° Flying Theatre is our latest attraction. As specialist suppliers of media-based dynamic simulation attractions, our partnership with Mondial, one of the world’s leading amusement ride manufacturers, enables us to bring a new range of technologies together to create this cutting-edge attraction.

Using the latest 3D visual technology projected onto dome screens, riders experience a real feeling of flying as they’re immersed into a highly entertaining movie, enhanced with a range of optional special effects. The audience “soars” through the film – legs dangling – as they’re seated in three rows of 20 and transported sideways, backwards, forwards, up and down, providing a fun and exhilarating experience that appeals to audiences of all ages.

We’ve recently installed a new custom 3D/4D immersive simulation attraction at Merlin’s London-based Shrek’s Adventure. The flying bus ride, which is based around our Immersive Tunnel, transports riders through a fairytale world, with Donkey at the helm. The ride uses advanced technology, 360° 3D projection and unique DreamWorks 3D animation, together with numerous multisensory effects.

In terms of engineering, design or manufacturing, what have been the most exciting breakthroughs or advancements you’ve made lately?
Following our recent acquisition of RoboCoaster, the company is now concentrating on the launch of a range of AGV and RCX dark rides. The AGV rides are trackless and not hampered by any power cables, and move at up to 0.5g. They’re available with a variety of different motion systems, sizes and on-board 4D effects. The latest AV solutions combine with the ride to offer an enthralling experience.

The RoboCoaster RCX range offers either a fixed or tracked solution, providing three axis motion, high-quality media content and AV solutions, plus optional 4D effects.

What are the current main trends in creating a dark ride?
Media-based attractions continue to grow in popularity, thanks to a range of well known IPs. Many years ago, IPs were limited to Universal and Disney, but IP providers have found that expanding into the mainstream theme park market has not only given them high-profile marketing opportunities, but also a new revenue stream through licensing.

Can you describe the current market climate? How do you stay ahead of the competition?
There’s a huge appetite for new dark rides and unique experiences from theme parks around the world who want to set themselves apart from the competition. At Simworx, product development has always been at the forefront, together with the desire to offer clients a first-class attraction along with excellent aftersales support.

What have been the biggest changes for ride makers in recent times?
Having a varied portfolio of products to meet the demands of an ever-increasing, wide-ranging market has meant that we are continually launching new products and technology. However, this has been a very exciting challenge that we have been pleased to adopt into our company strategy.

What’s on the horizon for Simworx?
Following the successful installation of the world’s first Immersive Tunnel at Movie Park in Germany, Simworx has secured a further five orders for Immersive Tunnel rides around the world.

Our 4D cinemas are still extremely popular, along with other dynamic simulation attractions in our portfolio. With the launch of our AGV and RoboCoaster attractions, we’ll continue to develop new technology in the areas of VR, interactivity and advanced projection.