Walking the show floor at IAAPA last week did me in for VR. Every year at IAAPA seems to have an official theme — perhaps it is the hive mind of the theme park industry, with vendors all rallying to provide what they see as the hottest thing, and easiest sale, of the moment. Last year it was flying theaters. This year, it was VR.
You couldn't walk past 10 steps in the "high tech pavilion" on the show floor without seeing someone with a VR unit strapped to his or her head. No one is selling straight VR, of course. Every demonstration put the goggle-clad volunteer atop whatever unsold ride system the company had been hawking in the past. Or the vendor might be offering a custom VR installation onto whatever fallen-from-favor ride a park would like to reinvigorate.
I loved VR the first time I experienced it on a roller coaster. The physical movement of the coaster complimented the depiction of movement on the screen. If the camera is moving through space, and the camera is our "eyes," logic dictates that we actually should be moving along with that camera, too. A VR ride just makes sense.
But I also just don't care anymore. While I have yet to be sickened by VR on a ride, I do feel sick waiting in the inevitably bloated queues for VR-enabled attractions. Placing and adjusting VR headsets slows loading to unacceptable waits, backing up the queue for everyone. I don't care to wait that long for an experience that doesn't totally excite me, and the minute or two of alien battles or whatever generic adventure parks are offering with their VR adventure just do not fire imagination anymore.
Don't mistake my apathy for a rejection. While VR no longer gets me excited, I would welcome the chance to experience any great story, even if the storyteller chooses to tell that tale in VR rather than a more traditional video and stage medium.
Maybe thats a sign of the maturation of VR as a medium — novelty won't cut it any longer. Whether a themed entertainment company offers VR, augmented reality, or whatever new storytelling technology comes along, story remains supreme.
The nature of the IAAPA show floor is that it almost exclusively attracts technology and manufacturing vendors. You don't see many booths for screenwriters. But that's what VR and AR need most right now. It's not about finding the "right" ride system for a VR attraction. And while some operations innovation to speed dispatch times would help, that won't save VR as a theme park medium.
No, only great storytelling can do that.
I don't care about VR anymore. But I remain — and always will be — interested in great stories. The gimmick phase of VR is over. If VR is to survive as a viable tool in theme parks, a master storyteller must find an engaging use for it. Otherwise, I — and a whole lotta other theme park fans — are going to keep walking past VR rides and shows on our way to attractions that do capture our imaginations with wonderful, engaging stories.
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Thank you Robert!
It is admittedly far from being perfectly executed, but the focus was clearly on finding the right technology for the story, rather than the other way around. Unfortunately it's still hampered by technical woes - I've had one totally successful run in four attempts - but it's the industry's only sincere attempt so far at what we're talking about, as far as I can see.
If a park is willing to develop a fully immersive VR attraction from the ground up, then we might have something. Perhaps Battle of Eire will provide some clues as to what VR can really be (while it's being retrofitted to a motion simulator, it's still more than slapping it on an existing coaster) with a ride program and VR experience that can be tailored to each other instead of one compromising the experience for the other. In the end though, until parks can figure out how to make loading as seamless as grabbing some 3-D glasses, VR attractions will struggle at major theme parks.
Make the attraction\ride great so no VR is ever needed. If one looks around, the world in already in High definition...
Plus who really want to wait because some bone head can't get the VR to work or put it on correctly... Never mind the language barriers trying to explain it...
Otherwise, I hope this latest fad is just that, a momentary fling.
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