PW Oct 09 P22-23.qxd 9/29/09 1:36 pm Page 22
Attraction Profile
www.parkworld-online.com
Professor Ke
fanciful domed building that once served as the
loading platform for the park's Thriller coaster,
Professor Keaney’s Xploratorium consists of 10 play
stations and a retail outlet, a part re-invention of the
traditional fun house.
The outlet provides what could be considered a
peek into the future, where AR will enrich a wide
range of attraction experiences. Right now it remains
a unique experiment at Six Flags as the group
evaluates guest reaction. On the day Park World
visited this summer, attendance was moderate, but
guests were actively engaged.
"The Xploratorium is a phase one experimental
concept," explains Mark Kane, park president, "that
provides new experiences for our guests by offering
unique, cutting-edge technology. Feedback so far
has been extremely positive and we will continue to
measure the response of the entire concept."
“Professor Keaney’s Xploratorium offers a quick
tour of the world of AR,” notes Bruno Uzzan, CEO
and co-founder of Total Immersion. “There’s an
element of delight and discovery along the way, but
what really makes the attraction work is how each
visitor engages with the action and becomes an
integral part of the experience. That’s the common
denominator across virtually every augmented reality
application.”
When guests step into the Xploratorium, a high-
resolution face scanning station is used to create a
3D model of their head, which is then used as a
caricature throughout the attraction. Holding court
is the Six Flags character Mr Six, who dances on-
Professor Keaney’s screen to songs selected by visitors. Soon, guests
Xploratorium, an eclectic at Six Flags, is the man responsible for the will be able to have their own face scan appear on
showcase of “augmented S
tephen Keaney, vice-president of development
project. He is not a real professor, but the the dancing Mr Six.
reality”, has opened at Six project carries his name. To realise the Xploratorium The Magic Flags Mirror, meanwhile, is a
Flags Great Adventure in the US park chain teamed up with Total Immersion, reinvention of the classic crazy mirror mounted two
Jackson, New Jersey. Park the French firm whose experiences blur the line feet off the floor, with an LCD screen on its side.
World explores the world's between the virtual and real world by integrating Guests pick up a flag, wave it and interact.
first fun house using Total real-time interactive 3D graphics into a live video Immersion TV is a green screen attraction that
Immersion technology stream. Six Flags immerses participants in four
trialled a couple of different scenes, including a
smaller Total genie in a bottle, a cemetery
Immersion products and a space ship. In each
last season on the case, displaying a card
queue lines of its before a webcam triggers
Dark Knight the experience and the
coasters in Jackson resulting interaction.
and Gurnee, The Surface Station,
Illinois, but this is created in association with
the first attraction Kodak, allows guests to
based entirely browse and customise park
around augmented photos on a touchscreen
reality (AR). desktop. At the AR Bumper
Housed inside a Car Station, four drivers
compete with a teammate
using augmented reality cars driven on a table in
LEFT: A 3D face scan/caricature
front of them. The goal is to collect the “six flags”
RIGHT: Monkey See, Monkey Do
scattered throughout the course while real objects
22 OCTOBER 2009
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48