Neuroscientists, user experience designers and anthropologists are being drawn to work in the attractions industry. Their expertise is opening up the potential for us to create a new generation of even more immersive experiences which are emotionally rewarding
By Liz Terry | Published in Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
This month we reported on work by Disney Research which has created a haptic system that enables people to ‘feel’ fireworks using computerised water jets sprayed on flexible screens.
The technology has been developed for use by blind and visually impaired people, but is part of an emerging interest in harnessing the senses to create a new generation of sensory experiences for use in visitor attractions.
In this issue, we examine a number of projects in which experts are turning to science and neuroscience to find new ways to connect with guests and create more powerful, immersive experiences.
On page 16, neuroscience researcher Tedi Asher from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, talks to Attractions Management about using neuroscience to create the best experience for visitors – the aim being to display collections in a manner that complements the way the brain functions.
Asher’s work has been made possible by a grant from the Barr Foundation, a Boston-based private institute that works to elevate the arts and creative expression.
Applying the latest neuroscientific research and neuroaesthetic theory to enhance visitor experiences across the museum’s permanent collection, Asher will publish her findings so they can be shared with museums worldwide.
Elsewhere in this issue, the science behind sensory design and ways in which it can be harnessed to create compelling attractions is examined by our expert panel on page 82.
Composer Joel Beckerman, architect and writer Gordon Grice and researcher and anthropologist Scott A Lukas talk us through ways to understand the five senses and highlight how they can be used to create more resonant experiences.
They reveal fascinating sensory facts, for example: unlike most memories, sensory memories are not subject to ‘retroactive interference’ – ie, they can’t be disturbed or altered by memories which are acquired later, so your grandma’s cookies will always smell as good as they did on the day they were baked, when it comes to your memory of them.
When it comes to taste, experiments show people experience different flavours when drinking the same wine in different coloured environments – it tastes richer in a darker, room.
The main objective is to get all of the senses working together, combining aromatic elements with visual, auditory and tactile ones, to create a total experience which delivers ‘environmental authenticity’.
Understanding visitor psychology and how guests use our attractions can also feed into the science of safety, and on page 64, Dr Kathryn Woodcock of Ryerson University explains the theory of ‘human factors engineering’, looking at how to best design attractions to ensure people use them safely by adjusting and anticipating their perceptions of risk and danger.
Welcoming scientists into our industry will enable the creation of a new generation of safer and more engaging experiences, which will, in turn, make the memories of tomorrow.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Interview: Jane Cooper
We talked to Jane Cooper, COO
and president of Herschend Family
Entertainment, about the company
portfolio and all things Dollywood
Neuroscientists, user experience designers and anthropologists are being drawn to work in the attractions industry. Their expertise is opening up the potential for us to create a new generation of even more immersive experiences which are emotionally rewarding
By Liz Terry | Published in Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
This month we reported on work by Disney Research which has created a haptic system that enables people to ‘feel’ fireworks using computerised water jets sprayed on flexible screens.
The technology has been developed for use by blind and visually impaired people, but is part of an emerging interest in harnessing the senses to create a new generation of sensory experiences for use in visitor attractions.
In this issue, we examine a number of projects in which experts are turning to science and neuroscience to find new ways to connect with guests and create more powerful, immersive experiences.
On page 16, neuroscience researcher Tedi Asher from the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, talks to Attractions Management about using neuroscience to create the best experience for visitors – the aim being to display collections in a manner that complements the way the brain functions.
Asher’s work has been made possible by a grant from the Barr Foundation, a Boston-based private institute that works to elevate the arts and creative expression.
Applying the latest neuroscientific research and neuroaesthetic theory to enhance visitor experiences across the museum’s permanent collection, Asher will publish her findings so they can be shared with museums worldwide.
Elsewhere in this issue, the science behind sensory design and ways in which it can be harnessed to create compelling attractions is examined by our expert panel on page 82.
Composer Joel Beckerman, architect and writer Gordon Grice and researcher and anthropologist Scott A Lukas talk us through ways to understand the five senses and highlight how they can be used to create more resonant experiences.
They reveal fascinating sensory facts, for example: unlike most memories, sensory memories are not subject to ‘retroactive interference’ – ie, they can’t be disturbed or altered by memories which are acquired later, so your grandma’s cookies will always smell as good as they did on the day they were baked, when it comes to your memory of them.
When it comes to taste, experiments show people experience different flavours when drinking the same wine in different coloured environments – it tastes richer in a darker, room.
The main objective is to get all of the senses working together, combining aromatic elements with visual, auditory and tactile ones, to create a total experience which delivers ‘environmental authenticity’.
Understanding visitor psychology and how guests use our attractions can also feed into the science of safety, and on page 64, Dr Kathryn Woodcock of Ryerson University explains the theory of ‘human factors engineering’, looking at how to best design attractions to ensure people use them safely by adjusting and anticipating their perceptions of risk and danger.
Welcoming scientists into our industry will enable the creation of a new generation of safer and more engaging experiences, which will, in turn, make the memories of tomorrow.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2017 issue 4
Interview: Jane Cooper
We talked to Jane Cooper, COO
and president of Herschend Family
Entertainment, about the company
portfolio and all things Dollywood
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
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.
