Exciting new kit is being used to support people with disabilities ranging from blindness to missing limbs. This opens up the possibility of creating attractions where they can enjoy the experience with friends and family in a way not previously possible
By Liz Terry | Published in Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
Imagine being able to create an attraction which is equally accessible and enjoyable for people with physical or sensory disabilities and the able bodied. We could enable families and friendship groups with members who struggle with their vision, mobility or senses to enjoy a day out where everyone can fully participate, with all the joy that brings.
Now that possibility is increasingly within reach, thanks to a raft of new technology emerging in the fields of 3D sound,bvirtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), robotics and brain computer interfaces (BCI). We, as an industry, need to be paying very careful attention to these developments.
Some of this exciting new technology was on show recently at the world’s first Cybathlon, held in Zurich, Switzerland. This event –essentially a bionic Olympic Games – saw severely disabled people competing in a range of different races, challenges and tasks using the latest robotics and innovations in prosthetics. This included powered exoskeleton races, powered prosthetics races and BCI races, where competitors used brain signals both to control avatars in a specially developed computer game and also to control various devices, such as motorised tractor wheelchairs.
Unlike the Paralympics, where athletes are prohibited from using powered aids, Cybathlon puts technology at the centre of the competition, showcasing its potential uses in day to day life for those with severe disabilities.
There are many directly transferable ideas for attractions innovators which could be gleaned from strong collaboration with the research and development teams working on these projects in labs and universities around the world.
Also exciting is the development work being done around VR and AR technology, where some truly groundbreaking discoveries are being made in relation to sensory challenges.
Oculus Touch, part of the Oculus VR system, is enabling people born with missing fingers to experience what it’s like to have a full set – the technology tricks the brain, so that actual sensation can be felt in fingers which have never been there.
This is thought likely because feelings of phantom movement are modulated by the parts of the brain that deal with sight, so the brain is reorganising in response to the experience.
Researchers are also finding powerful ways to connect people with vision impairment to the everyday world around them. These include wearable VR and AR aids which respond to the wearer’s head movement and magnify whatever they’re looking at. These systems have enabled users with limited vision to see more clearly and, in some cases, to read.
Auditory and haptic virtual environments which enable blind people to experience environments and build brain maps of them are also being developed using 3D sound technology.
It’s possible to foresee a day – once all this wonderful emerging technology has been developed and democratised through low-cost applications – when designers have the right tools to create the next generation of inclusive attractions.
Liz Terry, editor. Twitter: @elizterry
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
People profile: Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell, father of the video game industry, on his new VR business and the future of technology
People profile: Ron Magill
Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill gives the lowdown on the attraction’s new Florida: Mission Everglades zone
People profile: Kim Gladstone Herlev
Denmark’s Experimentarium has reopened after a major renovation. CEO Kim Gladstone Herlev shares his vision for the future
People profile: Jimmy Fallon
Hold on tight! US TV star Jimmy Fallon is the subject of a brand new ride at Universal Orlando
Interview: Matthias Li
Matthias Li, chief executive at Hong Kong’s
Ocean Park, on his response to a changing
visitor profile and rising competition
Pipeline: Opening Doors
There’s an array of attractions set to launch.
We anticipate the hot debuts of the year
Tourism: A Plan for Oman
The Ministry of Tourism’s Maitha Al Mahrouqi
on Oman’s status as a budding destination
Exciting new kit is being used to support people with disabilities ranging from blindness to missing limbs. This opens up the possibility of creating attractions where they can enjoy the experience with friends and family in a way not previously possible
By Liz Terry | Published in Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
Imagine being able to create an attraction which is equally accessible and enjoyable for people with physical or sensory disabilities and the able bodied. We could enable families and friendship groups with members who struggle with their vision, mobility or senses to enjoy a day out where everyone can fully participate, with all the joy that brings.
Now that possibility is increasingly within reach, thanks to a raft of new technology emerging in the fields of 3D sound,bvirtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), robotics and brain computer interfaces (BCI). We, as an industry, need to be paying very careful attention to these developments.
Some of this exciting new technology was on show recently at the world’s first Cybathlon, held in Zurich, Switzerland. This event –essentially a bionic Olympic Games – saw severely disabled people competing in a range of different races, challenges and tasks using the latest robotics and innovations in prosthetics. This included powered exoskeleton races, powered prosthetics races and BCI races, where competitors used brain signals both to control avatars in a specially developed computer game and also to control various devices, such as motorised tractor wheelchairs.
Unlike the Paralympics, where athletes are prohibited from using powered aids, Cybathlon puts technology at the centre of the competition, showcasing its potential uses in day to day life for those with severe disabilities.
There are many directly transferable ideas for attractions innovators which could be gleaned from strong collaboration with the research and development teams working on these projects in labs and universities around the world.
Also exciting is the development work being done around VR and AR technology, where some truly groundbreaking discoveries are being made in relation to sensory challenges.
Oculus Touch, part of the Oculus VR system, is enabling people born with missing fingers to experience what it’s like to have a full set – the technology tricks the brain, so that actual sensation can be felt in fingers which have never been there.
This is thought likely because feelings of phantom movement are modulated by the parts of the brain that deal with sight, so the brain is reorganising in response to the experience.
Researchers are also finding powerful ways to connect people with vision impairment to the everyday world around them. These include wearable VR and AR aids which respond to the wearer’s head movement and magnify whatever they’re looking at. These systems have enabled users with limited vision to see more clearly and, in some cases, to read.
Auditory and haptic virtual environments which enable blind people to experience environments and build brain maps of them are also being developed using 3D sound technology.
It’s possible to foresee a day – once all this wonderful emerging technology has been developed and democratised through low-cost applications – when designers have the right tools to create the next generation of inclusive attractions.
Liz Terry, editor. Twitter: @elizterry
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 1
People profile: Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell, father of the video game industry, on his new VR business and the future of technology
People profile: Ron Magill
Zoo Miami’s Ron Magill gives the lowdown on the attraction’s new Florida: Mission Everglades zone
People profile: Kim Gladstone Herlev
Denmark’s Experimentarium has reopened after a major renovation. CEO Kim Gladstone Herlev shares his vision for the future
People profile: Jimmy Fallon
Hold on tight! US TV star Jimmy Fallon is the subject of a brand new ride at Universal Orlando
Interview: Matthias Li
Matthias Li, chief executive at Hong Kong’s
Ocean Park, on his response to a changing
visitor profile and rising competition
Pipeline: Opening Doors
There’s an array of attractions set to launch.
We anticipate the hot debuts of the year
Tourism: A Plan for Oman
The Ministry of Tourism’s Maitha Al Mahrouqi
on Oman’s status as a budding destination
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
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