The future of attractions are always evolving but what
do AI, machine learning and neural networks have to
do with it? Experience designers Holovis are pioneering
developments that not only extend and enhance the
guest experience but that will also become imperative
to safety, park performance and operations.
Holovis uses gesture recognition for Justice League A Call For Heroes at Madame Tussauds attractions in Orlando and Sydney
The desire for personalisation and unique guest experiences that drive ride and park repeatability have been at the top of the requirements list over the last few years," says Peter Cliff, creative director at Holovis.
"The evolution of real-time media and enhanced interactivity techniques have allowed guests to customise their experience, but we’re taking things one step further and achieving true personalisation where guests are in control and the same experience is never repeated twice."
To deliver this, Holovis has developed a proprietary software ecosystem that connects all elements of a themed entertainment space to streamline operations, transform security and safety protocols and provide deeply personalised, intelligent entertainment experiences.
"Our interactive attractions are evolving to become much more intelligent by using advanced tracking technologies including our biometric and AI platforms. We take the techniques currently being developed by our data scientists and software teams for our enterprise and simulation divisions and apply them to create next-generation themed entertainment solutions that are pushing the boundaries," explains Cliff.
New technologies Holovis has developed a suite of software modules that leverage advanced computer vision and tracking technologies. These are fronted through the provision of guest experiences with personalised content that enhances their journey but also produce powerful data analytic visualisations and insights into park dynamics and operations on the backend.
The biometric tracking works by picking up attributes of the guest from their physical appearance and linking them to a user profile. The user is completely anonymised during this process, no data about an individual is saved and nothing can be reverse-engineered that could compromise personal information.
"We've prioritised the development of several different methods of tracking guests around a space that remove the complete reliance of a second screen, such as a mobile phone, digital signage networks or virtual reality," says Cliff.
"Users are identified through a powerful attribute recognition engine, which drives guest experience through personalised outputs. These include gesture recognition, where the power is in the hands of guests to alter their surroundings without needing any other devices or technologies, just natural human interaction.
“They could, for example, cast a spell, make lights come on inside a building or make water come out of a fountain. When combined with the facial recognition, a user can’t perform that action until they have unlocked that power, so someone else can copy the gesture but it may not work for them if they haven’t also unlocked the feature. This adds to the illusion of magic.
"The great thing about attribute recognition is it removes barriers to entry. Costly props enhanced with RFID are no longer the only way to take part.
"It's the object recognition module that allows guests to bring props into the narrative. Machine learning is used to identify common objects or those that can be purchased in gift shops and when detected incorporate them into the user’s specific story. These can be standard items that don’t need to be enhanced with any technological systems."
These tools can be utilised across a whole park or at a family entertainment centre, just in one themed zone, as part of the in-ride experience to personalise media scenes and in passive areas such as queue lines to elevate boredom.
Behind the scenes, the guest experience is a user-friendly face for what is actually a system that will become critical to park security and operations.
Spacial awareness This real-time tracking intelligence of the way in which people are moving around the space combines with simulation data to deliver extensive insights into operations and security. This gives an accurate picture of proceedings and operators can choose to act on these for reasons such as improving the flow of guests, alleviating congestion and emergency situations.
When combined with the machine learning, analysis of the way guests typically move around a space, this identifies how crowds would move, should disasters occur and how emergency response teams should function. When a new ride is added, a simulation can be run to see in real-time how this will affect the way in which people are moving around the space.
"Just as Machine Learning and AI are changing other industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, finance and retail, they are also set to have just as great an impact on themed entertainment," says Cliff. "This goes much further than simply contributing to guest entertainment – a whole ecosystem can be designed around these tracking technologies that keep guests safe by delivering extensive insights into park operations and security. We're very excited to see these transformations occur."
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2019 issue 3
People profile: Tom Hennes
Tom Hennes discusses how he has transformed the Empire State Building's visitor experience
People profile: Dimitrios Pandermalis
The Acropolis Museum has just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Its president, Dimitrios Pandermalis, talks about his plans to take the museum forward in the next decade and beyond
People profile: Gus Antorcha
SeaWorld's new CEO Gus Antorcha on the company's new direction as it starts to recover following several years of turmoil
Museums: A museum in motion
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image
is undergoing a AUS$40m renewal. CEO
Katrina Sedgwick talks about the plans
Tourism: The dark side
With locations like Chernobyl increasing
in popularity, Kath Hudson looks at the
dark side of the global tourism sector
Promotional feature: Whitewater
WhiteWater thinks outside the box to create memorable,
immersive experiences that go beyond the thrill
Rides: Monsters, myths and motorbikes
We take a look at some of the biggest ride
openings for visitor attractions worldwide,
including Universal’s new Hagrid coaster
Promotional feature: OurPeople
Home to the world-revered peppa pig world and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, paultons park was voted Tripadvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
The future of attractions are always evolving but what
do AI, machine learning and neural networks have to
do with it? Experience designers Holovis are pioneering
developments that not only extend and enhance the
guest experience but that will also become imperative
to safety, park performance and operations.
Holovis uses gesture recognition for Justice League A Call For Heroes at Madame Tussauds attractions in Orlando and Sydney
The desire for personalisation and unique guest experiences that drive ride and park repeatability have been at the top of the requirements list over the last few years," says Peter Cliff, creative director at Holovis.
"The evolution of real-time media and enhanced interactivity techniques have allowed guests to customise their experience, but we’re taking things one step further and achieving true personalisation where guests are in control and the same experience is never repeated twice."
To deliver this, Holovis has developed a proprietary software ecosystem that connects all elements of a themed entertainment space to streamline operations, transform security and safety protocols and provide deeply personalised, intelligent entertainment experiences.
"Our interactive attractions are evolving to become much more intelligent by using advanced tracking technologies including our biometric and AI platforms. We take the techniques currently being developed by our data scientists and software teams for our enterprise and simulation divisions and apply them to create next-generation themed entertainment solutions that are pushing the boundaries," explains Cliff.
New technologies Holovis has developed a suite of software modules that leverage advanced computer vision and tracking technologies. These are fronted through the provision of guest experiences with personalised content that enhances their journey but also produce powerful data analytic visualisations and insights into park dynamics and operations on the backend.
The biometric tracking works by picking up attributes of the guest from their physical appearance and linking them to a user profile. The user is completely anonymised during this process, no data about an individual is saved and nothing can be reverse-engineered that could compromise personal information.
"We've prioritised the development of several different methods of tracking guests around a space that remove the complete reliance of a second screen, such as a mobile phone, digital signage networks or virtual reality," says Cliff.
"Users are identified through a powerful attribute recognition engine, which drives guest experience through personalised outputs. These include gesture recognition, where the power is in the hands of guests to alter their surroundings without needing any other devices or technologies, just natural human interaction.
“They could, for example, cast a spell, make lights come on inside a building or make water come out of a fountain. When combined with the facial recognition, a user can’t perform that action until they have unlocked that power, so someone else can copy the gesture but it may not work for them if they haven’t also unlocked the feature. This adds to the illusion of magic.
"The great thing about attribute recognition is it removes barriers to entry. Costly props enhanced with RFID are no longer the only way to take part.
"It's the object recognition module that allows guests to bring props into the narrative. Machine learning is used to identify common objects or those that can be purchased in gift shops and when detected incorporate them into the user’s specific story. These can be standard items that don’t need to be enhanced with any technological systems."
These tools can be utilised across a whole park or at a family entertainment centre, just in one themed zone, as part of the in-ride experience to personalise media scenes and in passive areas such as queue lines to elevate boredom.
Behind the scenes, the guest experience is a user-friendly face for what is actually a system that will become critical to park security and operations.
Spacial awareness This real-time tracking intelligence of the way in which people are moving around the space combines with simulation data to deliver extensive insights into operations and security. This gives an accurate picture of proceedings and operators can choose to act on these for reasons such as improving the flow of guests, alleviating congestion and emergency situations.
When combined with the machine learning, analysis of the way guests typically move around a space, this identifies how crowds would move, should disasters occur and how emergency response teams should function. When a new ride is added, a simulation can be run to see in real-time how this will affect the way in which people are moving around the space.
"Just as Machine Learning and AI are changing other industries, such as manufacturing, healthcare, finance and retail, they are also set to have just as great an impact on themed entertainment," says Cliff. "This goes much further than simply contributing to guest entertainment – a whole ecosystem can be designed around these tracking technologies that keep guests safe by delivering extensive insights into park operations and security. We're very excited to see these transformations occur."
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2019 issue 3
People profile: Tom Hennes
Tom Hennes discusses how he has transformed the Empire State Building's visitor experience
People profile: Dimitrios Pandermalis
The Acropolis Museum has just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Its president, Dimitrios Pandermalis, talks about his plans to take the museum forward in the next decade and beyond
People profile: Gus Antorcha
SeaWorld's new CEO Gus Antorcha on the company's new direction as it starts to recover following several years of turmoil
Museums: A museum in motion
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image
is undergoing a AUS$40m renewal. CEO
Katrina Sedgwick talks about the plans
Tourism: The dark side
With locations like Chernobyl increasing
in popularity, Kath Hudson looks at the
dark side of the global tourism sector
Promotional feature: Whitewater
WhiteWater thinks outside the box to create memorable,
immersive experiences that go beyond the thrill
Rides: Monsters, myths and motorbikes
We take a look at some of the biggest ride
openings for visitor attractions worldwide,
including Universal’s new Hagrid coaster
Promotional feature: OurPeople
Home to the world-revered peppa pig world and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, paultons park was voted Tripadvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019
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
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
+ More news
COMPANY PROFILES
Simworx Ltd The company was initially established
in 1997. Terry Monkton and Andrew
Roberts are the key stakeh [more...]
Painting With Light By combining lighting, video, scenic and architectural elements, sound and special effects we tell s [more...]
Holovis Holovis is a privately owned company
established in 2004 by CEO Stuart
Hetherington. [more...]
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
