28 FEATURE: VISITOR ATTRACTIONS August 2014
RideView An example of the type of advanced AV technology becoming available for visitor attractions is RideView from Holovis. “This is a development tool that takes place within the Holovis VR CAVE system, a structure where all four sides feature 3D volumetric content to create a virtual world,” says the company’s managing director, Stuart Hetherington. “The users are immersed into that by wearing 3D head- tracked glasses, letting them walk through their entire master plan or actual ride experience just as the audience would once it is open. By switching between the view of the audience and a wider view to look critically at the whole space, this speeds up the design process, eliminates the potential for major confl icts in the design and layout and ensures all stakeholders through to suppliers have a full understanding of what is being created.”
clean, quiet site – that is, construction-free – for fi nal programming and setting of lighting scenes, sound mixes and levels. It can be very frustrating trying to get the best out of a system when you are working on what is basically a building site.”
Adding value What makes this a particularly appealing – and potentially profi table – market for integrators are the opportunities to add value.
“The integrator is the
key person in all projects, because it’s the integrator who delivers the solution for the customer,” believes Stumpfl . “They can be the best products that money can buy – but if the
integrator doesn’t put the right products together, the whole project fails.” The integrator value chain starts early in the process, as Willrich points out. “A good integrator knows his kit and should get a good understanding of the story to be told to ensure he is matching the correct equipment for the story,” he says. “There is no point in having a large projection screen if the media that will give the desired impact to visitors does not exist. Integrators need to be honest and provide the right equipment within given budgets. If they are allowed to properly engage with the client – and not all contracts allow this – then they can explore ideas
Billed as ‘the next generation of dark ride and interactive gaming solutions’, Holovis’ Motion Dome surrounds the audience in a full dome theatre
‘This part of the industry runs on reputation and word of mouth’
David Willrich, DJ Willrich
in workshops and meetings, and even do some basic mock-ups to determine the best treatments, which is essential for large, immersive shows. Everyone on the team has to buy into the project and work together to deliver the best show they can and maximise the value of all the equipment purchased.” Making that connection
between the customer’s vision for the attraction on the one hand, and what AV technology can do on the other, is an important skill. “Many visitor attractions
are led by a design/creative team who frequently have limited knowledge of the audiovisual equipment available on the market,” points out
Magri. “Consequently, any impartial advice that can be provided by the integrator to the designer can make a huge diff erence to the success of the project. Depala too recognises the
value an integrator brings in translating what the customer wants to achieve, echoing Stumpfl ’s assertion that an integrator needs to “deliver what the customer really wants – which might not be what he says”. “The fundamental consideration is understanding what the attraction is trying to achieve and then understanding what the audience wants to experience and the type of audience that is going to attend,” says Depala. “Once
this has been achieved, the technology that is going to be used will follow. However, the integrator will need to decide upon what technology is going to be used to enhance the experience. If it’s proven and current – a safe bet – it may not give the ‘wow!’ to the visitor. If it’s leading edge, the integrator needs to consider reliability risk. If it’s unproven, bleeding edge technology, it could blow everybody’s minds – or fail catastrophically. The likelihood is the decision will be based on budget and risk.”
Harkless is on the side
of preferring the proven. “In the themed attraction market, it is important to design systems that
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 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60