Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[anihilnation]

That would became great to diguise a coaster as a real road experience.

 

[JungleSkip]

Mario Kart!

Ew, I hope not.

 

[Gillman]

My concern with something like this VR Coaster tech would be the headsets. Would people really want to wear those on an attraction? How much do they cost? How do they expect guests not to destroy them? I often see pictures of guests doing stupid stuff at the parks with comments from others saying this is why we can't have nice things.

 

[fryoj]

I'd think VR on a coaster would be a puke fest. People who get even slightly motion sick, would probably be completely set off by that.

 

[Scott W.]

My concern with something like this VR Coaster tech would be the headsets. Would people really want to wear those on an attraction? How much do they cost? How do they expect guests not to destroy them? I often see pictures of guests doing stupid stuff at the parks with comments from others saying this is why we can't have nice things.

I can't see people looking after them either and it's not like you can make people pay a deposit before riding.

I also think it would be a bit hypocritical of Universal to allow guests to wear these on a coaster, when they're making guests walk through metal detectors before riding.

It's also incredibly dangerous, if a guest has a freak out mid way through and decides to take the headset off, is it going to hit somebody behind them or do they have it attached to them somehow and have it hit off them for the remainder of the ride. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[JungleSkip]

It's also incredibly dangerous, if a guest has a freak out mid way through and decides to take the headset off, is it going to hit somebody behind them or do they have it attached to them somehow and have it hit off them for the remainder of the ride. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Come on. They'd obviously be attached to the ride vehicle.

 

[Scott W.]

Come on. They'd obviously be attached to the ride vehicle.

If they're attached and somebody takes them off, they're going to be swinging about at head height. If they weigh a couple of lbs, they could do some damage.

 

[IzzyB]

If they're attached and somebody takes them off, they're going to be swinging about at head height. If they weigh a couple of lbs, they could do some damage.

I believe what he is saying is they would be attached and come down in a way they could not be just removed. Almost like how you click down your lap bar. Once you click it down it can't be clicked back up. I think they are playing around with it, but probably pretty far off from doing something like this. Also, I don't think it would be part of a typical outdoor coaster, but who knows.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

When oculus rift was being shown around E3 the first year they ran into an unexpected issue: pink eye.

That's why I don't think this will ever be a mainstream theme park tech.

 

[Nick]

When oculus rift was being shown around E3 the first year they ran into an unexpected issue: pink eye.

That's why I don't think this will ever be a mainstream theme park tech.

How is VR being worn over and over from person to person (I assume that's what you were suggesting) any different than the amount of people that wear 3D glasses every day at Uni though?

 

[JungleSkip]

How is VR being worn over and over from person to person (I assume that's what you were suggesting) any different than the amount of people that wear 3D glasses every day at Uni though?

Glasses are cleaned between each use. That's why they're tossed in that bin after every ride.

 

[Nick]

Glasses are cleaned between each use. That's why they're tossed in that bin after every ride.

I know that, i've personally done that. I thought about that after I posted and I guess maybe that would be an issue, but the TMs that are loading could wipe down as they are checking restraints.

It would sure slow down load time and decrease hourly capacity of rides though.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

I'd think VR on a coaster would be a puke fest. People who get even slightly motion sick, would probably be completely set off by that.

Spot on. The need for virtual reality on something actual could be very sickening. I just got over my motion sickness.

 

[Scott W.]

I believe what he is saying is they would be attached and come down in a way they could not be just removed. Almost like how you click down your lap bar. Once you click it down it can't be clicked back up. I think they are playing around with it, but probably pretty far off from doing something like this. Also, I don't think it would be part of a typical outdoor coaster, but who knows.

Part of the appeal of the glasses is that you can move your head and see the world around you, if it's rigid, it's going to remove that ability or it's going to be incredibly uncomfortable.

What I think would be amazing though and maybe fix some of the issues being discussed here, would be if this was something you could rent from Universal and would work on select rides. I'm throwing numbers about here and it's most probably very unrealistic. You go to guest services, you pay $50 for a days rental and leave some kind of deposit. The glasses will work on select rides like the Hulk, Dragon Challenge, HRRR or whatever.

The glasses will be heavily padded, maybe with some kind of springly cable that will connect to your your wrists so that if you do decide to take it off, it will spring downwards away from your face and hopefully be a bit safer.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It would sure slow down load time and decrease hourly capacity of rides though.

That's the point of my post.

 

[Nick]

That's the point of my post.

I'm not arguing with you, I was just thinking out loud more or less.

 

[IzzyB]

Part of the appeal of the glasses is that you can move your head and see the world around you, if it's rigid, it's going to remove that ability or it's going to be incredibly uncomfortable.

I can imagine they could figure something out so you can still move your head. But I agree with others, there are bigger issues like sanitizing. That was actually my thought when I thought about this. I would not ride the ride because I would not want it on my head after someone else had just worn it.

 

[agentj]

When I was in Germany this past summer at EuropaPark , they were field testing their VR glasses on one of their coasters. Management and employees only. (funny seeing guys in suits and ties on a coaster) They were handed the glasses as they waited for the ride, put them on in the car, and they were off. They all seemed to really like they experience. No green faces at end of ride. Went on for half a day. Glasses were green but not that large.

 

[Skubersky]

When I was in Germany this past summer at EuropaPark , they were field testing their VR glasses on one of their coasters. Management and employees only. (funny seeing guys in suits and ties on a coaster) They were handed the glasses as they waited for the ride, put them on in the car, and they were off. They all seemed to really like they experience. No green faces at end of ride. Went on for half a day. Glasses were green but not that large.

MACK was testing this again this week at Fun Spot on the Freedom Flyer with Samsung S6-based headsets. I did it last night and it was amazing. The head tracking was perfect, zero motion sickness, and it make a really tame coaster incredible exciting. The biggest issue is capacity, it takes forever to get everyone's headsets on and off.

 

[Scott W.]

MACK was testing this again this week at Fun Spot on the Freedom Flyer with Samsung S6-based headsets. I did it last night and it was amazing. The head tracking was perfect, zero motion sickness, and it make a really tame coaster incredible exciting. The biggest issue is capacity, it takes forever to get everyone's headsets on and off.

Is this actually coming to Fun Spot? That's interesting that Mack are doing it. I didn't know that.

What do you actually see?