Flying Theatres
Suspended Theater, Falcon’s Creative Group Daryl White
will go away eventually,” says Christian. “Even if they are there for two full seasons, this is nothing compared to the lifespan of a major attraction such as a Flying theatre, which can be 10 years or more. “However, there could be some impact on a
brand-new type of attraction that brings much of the same or let’s say, a similar type of experience. For instance, virtual reality can simulate flying quite well if it is included in a platform motion and with special effects. The latter are an absolute must for a successful flying theatre experience, i.e they must be absolutely immersive and for the human brain, if you are not moving, you are certainly not flying! So, yes VR could capture part of the “flying theatre experience” market but only if it comprises motion and special effects.” Reflecting on industries’ shared experiences,
Brogent’s Stefan Rothaug says: “Flying theatres are indoor attractions and as such have to deal with the same pandemic caused challenges as shopping centres and other indoor facilities. To overcome those challenges, operators look at similar solutions, like adding AV treatment to HVAC systems.” The company is currently working on system upgrades for all components. However, according to Stefan, “in contrast to the cinema industry there are no well-defined standards yet, for example, for video and audio systems for flying theatre systems. Step by step we are defining those standards for the flying theatre to make the playback of available movies in different theatres easier and creating opportunities for third party movie production companies. Some of which have already started the production of flying theatre movies. We see a lot of great talent and high- quality content in the market and want to support the development as well as we can.”
Expectation rising Commenting on consumer expectation, Daryl White, Falcon’s Creative Group, says: “As people have become accustomed to technology such as smart phones, their threshold for awe and amazement correspondingly rises with each new version. It is the same with these media- based attractions. Flying theatres are certainly
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Suspended Theater, Falcon’s Creative Group Flying theatres are
indoor attractions and as such have to deal with the same pandemic caused challenges as shopping centres and other indoor facilities.
still incredible experiences, but guests want more now. Providing multiple scenes is one way we are setting apart our Suspended Theater system from competitors. Also, enhancing guest agency through the use of real time game engines generating all new media on the fly, is another thing we are doing to provide a new experience every time a guest hops onboard. Designers need to keep pushing the bounds to have new options available for guests just before they realise they’re bored with the old rides.” “On the subject of the technology, there are
some major innovations and changes, and these are mostly to do with the image and what our visitors see,” says KLT’s Kevin Murphy. “For most flying theatres, the screen and image technology is
projection, and that means a well-designed screen surface that gives a high quality image without the structure visible, again acoustically transparent and built to last and be easy to clean. In the last few years screens have improved considerably and we have taken advantage of the new developments and apply them in our projects. Projectors are getting brighter and now we try to utilise true RGB Laser technology wherever possible to give the best colour, blending and no lamp changes. Another major development is the availability of LED displays with complex curves – dome screens made of LED panels and the end results can be spectacular and allow us great contrast and to push the level of immersion within the ride. “
Upcoming projects “We are working on several flying theatre projects,” reveals Simworx’s Terry Monkton. “We recently shipped a Dual ‘Fly Over’ experience, using a customised version of one of our Cobra dark rides to accommodate a lower ceiling height than that usually required for a traditional flying theatre for a theme park in Vietnam. As the ‘flying’ sensation can be similarly imitated with other media-based attractions, this is sometimes the best solution for clients with a lot of restrictions on space but that have an idea of the kind of media
WINTER PART 2 2021
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