issue 84, October 2020 inparkmagazine.com

SimEx-Iwerks helps facilities soar with new FlyRide® installs Warner Bros. World Touchless technologies The technology behind Abu Dhabi’s Solutions for parks, attractions and museums seeking to minimize newest indoor theme park touch interactions for ticketing, touchscreens and more Meet the press Learn what drives the InPark editorial inner circle in our third installment of this four-part series

Joe Kleiman, Martin Palicki, news editor publisher

Question from Judith Rubin Question from Joe Kleiman

hat’s the special something you bring to the InPark ou’ve traveled around the world to visit theme parks Wdynamic? Yand attractions and to meet with themed entertainment designers and manufacturers. What are some of your I have the thickest beard. Besides that, it would be the favorite memories traveling for InPark? understanding of niche markets within the attractions community - giant screen, museums, and the performing arts - an I made a conscious decision a few years back to focus most of understanding from working as a manager and director in these my travel each year on work-related trips, adding on side trips markets. I was also an IMAX projectionist and motion simulator when possible for fun. It was a smart decision. In addition to technician, and worked with animals in a couple of zoos and a being present at important industry events around the world, dolphin rescue facility, so those are fields I understand closely as there is so much to see and do out there that really helps inform well. All this experience has been put to good use at InPark. Now, a well-rounded editorial viewpoint. if we ever do a piece on rebuilding a 1960s Mustang, I’m calling dibs. I’ve been lucky to enjoy several show openings with the ECA2 team in China. The opening of “Fountain of Dreams” in Wuyishan was particularly special. We had an afternoon to explore this rather remote city where almost no one spoke Judith Rubin, English. Ordering a meal without the use of language can be fun editor – as long as you keep an open mind!

Last year Alterface organized a press trip to Belgium for the Question from Martin Palicki Popcorn Revenge attraction. We got tours of the city, the new Alterface office and Walibi Belgium even opened several of its know you like to bake. What is the perfect recipe for a best rides for us. At the end of the day organizer Anja d’Hondt Igreat article or story (include a shopping list, please!)? prevailed upon the kind hotel staff to keep the lounge open for us so we could share our experineces on the new ride. It’s always Successful baking involves good ingredients, the right tools a treat to socialize with other industry journalists. and resources, creative experimentation and of course an understanding of who is going to eat the end result. In a corollary Since the three members of InPark’s core editorial team all live in to creating a great article or story... Ingredients = information. If different states, we don’t have traditional office relationships (but you are having trouble making a meaningful statement, then you our remote working skills have come in very handy this year). It’s need more information and understanding of your topic. Dig in, always a huge pleasure to travel and see industry colleagues and ask more questions. Tools and resources = how you communicate friends at fantastic sites and events around the world. Whether and share the story, including structure, formats and platforms. it’s a WhiteWater rooftop cocktail party in Berlin or dinner Creative experimentation = finding a way to say it that makes overlooking Shanghai Disneyland at TEA SATE Asia, it’s so people take notice. In the last, eaters = audience. Make the story much more enjoyable because it’s with all the amazing people I’ve relevant to them, their needs and the culture of their business. come to know and cherish in our industry.

InPark Magazine (ISSN 1553-1767) is published by Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC. 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Shipping address: 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Phone: +1-262-412-7107. Printing by Johnson Press of America. Contents © 2020 InPark Magazine. All rights reserved. Nothing in the magazine may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the magazine. InPark Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Such material must be accompanied by a self-adressed and stamped envelope to be returned. Postmaster: Send address changes to InPark Magazine 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Subscriptions are available annually for $45 per year ($70 international). Opinions expressed in editorial matter are not necessarily those of InPark Magazine or its publishers, Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC.

2 inparkmagazine.com issue 84, october 2020

Meet the press 2 The IPM editors interview one other, round three

The power of the wearable 4 Connect&GO brings RFID solutions to a Quebec waterpark • by Michael Oliver

Flights boarding now 8 SimEx-Iwerks installs the FlyRide® attraction in two US venues • by Joe Kleiman

Device developments 13 Freetouch™ BYOD technology helps museums and attractions keep interactives in play • by Judith Rubin

New game in town 16 Former Disney Imagineer Steven Grant leads new Themed Environments Integration program at UF Orlando CityLab • by Judith Rubin

Smart park systems 19 Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi delights guests with immersive attractions backed by the latest in show control technology • by Martin Palicki

Dubai 2021 and beyond 22 World expos upcoming, proposed and planned • by James Ogul

TEA Thea Awards Digital Case Studies showcase 26 TEA maintains its prestigious awards cycle in an online format • by Joe Kleiman

Transitions: New faces and roles in the industry 28 Stephane Battaille and Maya Guice • by Martin Palicki

team & contributors PUBLISHER DESIGN Martin Palicki Martin Palicki COVER: Guests on board the FlyRide® attraction from SimEx-Iwerks enjoy the sensation EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS of flying above scenic landscapes. Judith Rubin James Ogul Michael Oliver Photo courtesy of SimEx-Iwerks NEWS EDITOR Joe Kleiman

inparkmagazine.com 3 The power of the wearable Connect&GO brings RFID solutions to a Quebec waterpark by Michael Oliver

s one of the largest waterparks in Quebec, Super Aqua Club, How does RFID work? Alocated 30 minutes from downtown Montreal, boasts over Radio Frequency Identification goes back as least as far as 45 rides and attractions, including the Tsunami and Tornado thrill WWII when radar, developed in the decade prior, was used to rides, a heated wave pool, private beaches and multiple children’s signal the approach of aircraft. In those early days of electronic attractions. detection, there was no way to know whether the aircraft was “friend or foe,” until a British radar expert got the idea to equip Super Aqua Club has been operating for three decades and its each RAF aircraft with a transponder (a combination receiver new owner Nadine St-Amant, who acquired the park in May 2019 and transmitter) capable of receiving an interrogating signal and and who actually worked at the park as a teenager, has brought in sending a specific signal back to the radar transmitter; thus, the numerous upgrades, including state-of-the-art technical systems transmitter became a “reader” of the identifying signal. This is using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to enhance the the basis for RFID technology. guest experience and bring under one umbrella myriad multiple functions such as POS (point of sale). To achieve this, she called Some 75 years later, and after a long evolution, we now can upon Connect&GO, a Montreal-based supplier described by install the transponder - which, thanks to the miracles of Crunchbase as “a global leader in RFID deployments in the miniaturization and materials development, can be as small as a entertainment industry.” grain of rice, far smaller than the bulky, radio-sized affairs used in WWII - in a specific material, say a silicone wristband. Encoded RFID technology has come to the fore in recent years, especially in the transponder chip would be just the basic information of an in access control at large events (e.g. concerts, festivals and identifying serial number, which would link to data recorded and major sporting events) and all aspects of inventory management. stored in a back-end computer system, with software specifically Anthony Palermo, co-founder of Connect&GO, recognized that designed to handle such data (think of data like access to events the technology had untapped potential for attractions, especially and activities, meal packages, locker assignment, as well as dates with advancements in that field over the last 10 years or so. and times of ticket purchases).

4 inparkmagazine.com When a “reader” is within range of the wristband/transponder actions and use the data to improve service and boost per capita (and a reader can be a hand-held device, or part of a more spending. As Palermo says, “With access control via RFID, we permanent structure, like an activity portal, for example), the know when people bought tickets, when they came, what times reader’s signal will activate the transponder, which will send a they came.” This allows the operator to reserve a specific number signal of its own back to the reader, identifying the guest and of tickets in advance for specific time periods each day, as well linking the wristband directly to all relevant data points (i.e., as better manage the customer flow and movement throughout amenities the guest has purchased). So, for example, a guest the park. Being able to anticipate the likely number of guests may enter a particular attraction by merely swiping his or her partaking of a particular area of the venue at a particular time wristband across a reader. Benefits to the guest: no need to carry allows operators to concentrate staff in those areas and improve a wallet, purse or ID, no tickets or coupons to manage outside customer service. those already electronically present in the system. Additionally, since most of this operation is contactless, or, at most, tapping Guest media takeaways a reader with the wristband, the system provides a measure of Further, the platform allows the guest to create an individual protection against picking up a virus. “My Account” specific to Super Aqua Club. Since, for many guests, documenting their adventures is almost as important Deploying the system as the adventures themselves, Connect&GO has brought this The fact that this enhanced technology can be delivered in the easily within reach by integrating capture/transfer technology form of a simple waterproof wristband, with its tiny transponder from Kool Replay. This allows guests to take and share branded safely tucked away in its silicone shell, made this new technology photos and videos into the RFID system. Cameras are installed appear ideal for St-Amant’s operation. Connect&GO was given at various angles and positions along an attraction - say, the the green light to create and install the system. Tornado slide. The guest’s experience is videotaped and edited all the way through, creating a personalized video available within As “a global leader of RFID deployments” Connect&GO’s minutes after exiting. A preview is emailed to the guest and project portfolio includes providing access control solutions to they can purchase the entire video, if desired, and share it and major conferences, sporting events, music festivals and more. The its branded content with the park logo embedded. The guest company can now boast wristband-wearing clients in 16 different becomes the star of their own commercial. In Palermo’s terms, countries and numerous venues and events, both temporary and “It gives you the opportunity to re-live the entire experience.” permanent. In addition, roaming photographers take pictures of guests, then, The first step was to develop a smart e-commerce platform for simply by tapping the guest’s wristband with the photographer’s everything. The resulting platform developed by Connect&GO allows the operator to, for example, offer attraction packages, upsell, add meal packages if desired, and instantly offer different deals. Additionally, the e-commerce platform works in unison with a Veloce POS system, allowing all POS to be handled at the front gate. Utilizing a full POS Veloce system across the park, the entire site became hybrid-cashless. Operators can accept credit cards, cash or RFID wristbands (much like a reusable cash card, dollars can be added to the wristband account itself at kiosks located in the park). This system also allowed for a full locker assignment via wristband; lockers, while not directly RFID- connected, use keys that are electronically tied to the wristband.

Along with all of these elements comes access control and the capacity for fully timed ticketing ABOVE & OPPOSITE: Guests at Super Aqua Club in Quebec, Canada use RFID and the ability to log customer wristbands throughout the park to access attractions, pay for services and link photos and videos taken of them throughout their visit to their customer account.

inparkmagazine.com 5 Nadine St-Amant Anthony Palermo All photos courtesy of Super Aqua Club

reader device, instantly send the pictures by email, from which is no question about that! People love it. You can see it in their point the guest is free to share the picture on social media. faces!”

At the center of this fusion of elements is the customizable My That it has streamlined and improved park operations is clear as Account profile page. As Palermo explains, the profile page “has well: “We really wanted to create a connected experience for our been exercised by other properties to allow guests to register clients, and this new RFID technology has certainly done that. their profile, allow them to connect a credit card and to link other Now we better know the customer journey of our clients; we family members, and it also acts as a hub to receive messages, can better analyze the touch points for our clients at each step.” discounts, and their branded photos from their experiences.” Moreover, with “real time numbers of people inside the site, I Surrounding this central element are “modules for ticketing, can manage my staff much more easily and efficiently.” e-commerce, access control, payments, as well as gamification.” Customers are rewarded for their degree of engagement through For Anthony Palermo and Connect&GO, working with Super points for various elements of the waterpark experience, e.g., Aqua Club proved to be a gratifying and encouraging experience. points are awarded for registering an account, for enjoying “Not only is it a waterpark,” he said, “which is a big focus for us, certain rides, for photos, videos and sharing, all of which can be but Nadine understood how many things you can do to connect redeemed for prizes and help build customer loyalty. the experience and went full with it and had a successful year out of it…she really believed in our technology and how it could Doing business in the pandemic come through for her guests.” Any discussion of technology’s interaction with the public today must include considerations about the Covid-19 pandemic. St- Whether demanded by a new and harsh reality, or as a more Amant, like all business owners who deal directly with the public, natural byproduct of technological evolution, RFID technology must contend with “how to get more people into the site, yes, has matured to a point of becoming a common and desired but in such a way that is safe, and also ‘feels safe’ to the guests,” aspect of e-commerce platforms and POS systems with viable as she says. Given this issue, there could hardly be a better time and versatile applications for parks and attractions. As Palermo for contactless, or limited contact technology to come to the fore says, at Super Aqua Club “the connection between the video and offer its solutions to the challenge, in this instance, providing and photo and access control, the real time data, lockers and Super Aqua Club guests with a sense of normalcy, coupled with all the touchpoints of the leisure experience are driven by and an enhanced waterpark experience. demonstrate the power of the wearable.” • • •

With attendance caps in place for the foreseeable future, as In this issue, we welcome Michael Oliver as our well as an abbreviated 2020 season, parks such as Super Aqua newest contributing writer. Michael comes to us Club have been looking to maximize per caps revenue and build by way of academia, as a retired literature and strong customer bonds. St-Amant brings a positive mindset to philosophy professor whose teaching career lasted the challenge. She looks at this season as a success, and in great some 28 years. Prior to the classroom, his early measure because of the new technology employed this year: “For training and work were in engineering, which took the guests, this new technology not only makes the waterpark him from nuclear missile silos in North Dakota experience a better one…makes the attractions better and easier to the Rhine River, where he worked as a ship’s to enjoy, the RFID technology is ‘part of ’ that experience! There engineer. Michael brings his dual background and range of experience to write about technology and other subjects for InPark.

6 inparkmagazine.com inTHEMED ENTERTAINMENT

Nadine St-Amant Anthony Palermo All photos courtesy of Super Aqua Club inWATER PARKS

inMUSEUMS © batwin + robin productions

inAMUSEMENT PARKS

inparkmagazine.com Flights boarding now SimEx-Iwerks FlyRide® theaters take off in Branson and the Wisconsin Dells by Joe Kleiman

he motion simulator ride has been around for over a century. flight simulators were modified for entertainment use and the TAccording to the late film historian Ray Zone, “Hale’s first, influential modern versions of the product emerged. In Tours” was the first on the market utilizing motion picture film; Toronto, the company Interactive Entertainment, Inc. - which it premiered at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair before being would soon change its name to SimEx - created “Tour of the franchised worldwide. The concept was simple – riders would Universe,” a blockbuster attraction at the CN Tower. Meanwhile, board a railroad car positioned on a gimbal, at one end of which in Los Angeles Don Iwerks was finishing up the custom a short, point-of-view travelogue film would play. Combined with projection system for Disney’s original, groundbreaking “Star a rocking motion applied to the car and a wind machine, riders Tours” attraction. He would soon leave Disney to found his own had the sensation they were actually riding the rails. attractions company, Iwerks Entertainment. SimEx and Iwerks would merge in 2002 to become SimEx-Iwerks. For close to 80 years, simulator rides in theme parks, carnivals and museums would use this simple concept – vibration of As the motion simulator ride business grew, companies began the theater or seats combined with lighting and environmental looking for new ways to differentiate themselves from the effects to create the sensation of movement and immerse guests competition. Where riders were placed in small capsules with into the experience. In 1985, the game changed as industrial screens at the front, ceilings began to disappear, with dome

8 inparkmagazine.com and curved screens enveloping riders’ points of view. The next “We’re well known as having the largest ride and 4D film library stage would be to simulate a flight over terrain. While traditional in the market,” Frueh continues. “We’re doing the same for simulator vehicles are positioned so riders look forward or up, FlyRide®, which is very appealing to our clients since it means the joy of hang-gliding is the ability to gaze down upon the they can get both the system and the content from us, and have world passing below. Engineers shifted the screens lower and access to a variety of content.” created motion bases where guests’ feet dangle, as if actually in flight on a glider. This type of media-based, simulator attraction The system is commonly referred to as a “flying theater,” and has proven FlyRide is a highly customizable system. The seating to be a great crowd pleaser. It has followed a typical path of configuration, screen shape and size, and even the projection are development through the industry, starting with custom, one-off based upon the customer’s needs for the space. Central to the installations in the biggest parks and gradually coming within experience are motion platforms, each five seats across. With reach of regional and stand-alone operators as well. four platforms spread across each floor, and the ride spread over two to three floors, FlyRides can put through as many as 40 to Continuing its role as a leader in the ride simulation market, 60 riders per cycle, though Frueh points out that an attraction SimEx-Iwerks has just opened its first two FlyRide® theaters, can have fewer or more seats, depending on the available space. both at venues in the US Midwest serving regional tourist The modular nature of the attraction simplifies maintenance and markets: Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells, and Beyond the allows operators to adjust to changes in demand by running just a Lens in Branson, Missouri. FlyRide® is based on the SkyRide single floor or even just one bench if needed. theater system SimEx-Iwerks first developed for Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines in 2016 [see “Flying High,” InPark As riders buckle into their seats, they notice a closed door in Magazine Issue #62]. It is positioned as an economical alternative front of them. The “wow factor” takes place as the door opens to big-budget flying theaters, with a scalable system package and the seats suddenly surge forward, causing riders’ feet to supported by a film library that includes licensed content and dangle while the experience takes them into simulated flight — original films. “We try not to do the big one-off custom product, this is the Rapid Reveal system in action. Electric actuators, which but rather something that’s replicable worldwide,” says Mike Frueh notes are quieter than other options and therefore better Frueh, Senior Vice President of Licensing and Distribution for for flying experiences, provide three degrees of motion (3DOF) SimEx-Iwerks. “For FlyRide, we developed a product that is - pitch, roll, and heave – to simulate the sensation of traveling on designed, built, installed and serviced by SimEx-Iwerks, just as we an actual aircraft. do with our 4D Experience® and motion ride attractions.” Depending on the size and configuration of the theater, images can be projected onto either a giant dome screen or a more

ABOVE & OPPOSITE: Guests on SimEx-Iwerks’ FlyRide® attraction are surrounded by imagery on a giant screen and taken on a flying tour of sites around the United States. All photos courtesy of SimEx-Iwerks unless otherwise noted.

inparkmagazine.com 9 specialized, curvilinear screen supplied by Strong/MDI. Beyond The film library the Lens features a four-story Vista View curved screen, while To build a strong aerial content library to support FlyRide, Wilderness Resort’s is a five-story high, solid partial dome. Main SimEx-Iwerks partnered with an industry master of aerial audio speakers are located behind the screen and for acoustic photography, specialty cinema producer MacGillivray Freeman transparency the Vista View screen has a perforated surface while Films (MFF). Well known as one of the leading producers and the dome screen has special patented perforated panels at speaker distributors of documentary content to IMAX and other giant locations. Keeping most of the dome screen solid reduces light screen theaters, MFF is probably best known for the 1998 release loss and maximizes image quality. Surround sound is created “Everest,” currently scheduled for a 2021 director’s cut re-release. through additional speakers located behind the seats in each The company’s longstanding history of aerial photography goes launch bay. back to the 1960s and 1970s, when surfing documentarians Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman began producing and shooting The projection systems integrate components from leading aerials for Hollywood blockbusters, including “The Shining” and manufacturers. Both the Wilderness Resort and Beyond the “The Towering Inferno.” In 1976, the company’s first IMAX Lens theaters are projecting at a high frame rate of 60 frames production, “To Fly,” opened at the Smithsonian’s National Air & per second, adding to the realism of the experience. Images Space Museum, where it continues to play to this day. are played back from 7thSense Delta Media Servers to multiple Christie laser projectors. Wilderness Resort utilizes four Christie Now, with more than 50 films to its credit, MFF has developed D4K40-RGB projectors blended with the Christie Mystique an extensive collection from its high-quality source material. The Large Scale Experience software to create a single high resolution footage covers a rich variety of topics and terrain in celebration image. Beyond the Lens has four Christie Crimson WU25 of nature, adventure and the great outdoors, making it a natural projectors. Both locations feature scent, wind, and water effects. fit for flying theaters. “Our shots have stood the test of time,” The system is operated with a patented SimEx-Iwerks designed says MFF President Shawn MacGillivray, “They look incredible.” control system that can be remotely accessed by authorized MFF is in the midst of taking its IMAX film shots, originally technicians for monitoring and maintenance. The ride meets captured on 15 perforation 65mm film, the highest resolution worldwide code requirements and has received approval from film on the market, and digitally scanning them at 16K resolution, major authorities such as TUV and CSEI. providing four times the image detail of most conventional cinemas.

The SimEx-Iwerks ride system tilts seats back before pushing them forward into the curved screen for the show.

10 inparkmagazine.com “We’re helping SimEx-Iwerks serve their clients in creating bespoke films that they want for their venues,” says MacGillivray. “They know it’s about wowing audiences, especially as they experience it for the first time. And the next film has to be even better.” The two FlyRide® venues that just opened both have original films using MFF footage, but each is vastly different from the other.

Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells took a somewhat different approach with its original show “Flying Wild.” “We wanted footage of the national park landmarks, the Grand Canyon and Tetons, but we also wanted to combine that with footage of the Dells,” says Chris Ebben, the resort’s Director of Attractions. “The Upper and Lower Wisconsin River are separated by a dam. Instead of taking a Duck Boat tour of the Upper River and then relocating to float down the Lower River, we offer a bird’s eye view of the whole thing. It’s something most people won’t experience in a single day.” Footage has recently been shot by Wilderness with the help of MFF and Discover Wisconsin of nearby Devil’s Lake State Park and Door County and scenes from both locations will be in the re-release of Flying Wild November 13th, 2020.

For Robin Turner, owner of Branson’s Beyond the Lens, it was important that “some of the clips in our film ‘Adventure America’ take people where they normally would fly to, but would also take them to places beyond their normal travel.” Beyond the Lens is what Turner calls “Techno-Tainment.” Turner, who prior to Beyond the Lens founded the edutainment LBE chain Wonderworks, says the venue concentrates on “being on the cutting edge of what’s next: VR, AR, and other interactive technology. Guests are immersed from the moment they walk through the doors; from photo ops to life-size gaming opportunities.”

Both venues are working on future flying experiences, and both have plans to add a seasonal production in November for the holidays. SimEx-Iwerks is continuing to develop its FlyRide film library with original content from MFF and others. As the number of Flyride venues expands, the supporting content library will continue to grow likewise and differentiate itself from other SimEx-Iwerks content that is more tied to traditional motion simulation and 3D and 4D experiences. “We want to really concentrate on the flying experience,” says Frueh. “We’re also working on a few animated films.”

At the Take Flight attraction within the Wilderness Resort (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin) great detail has gone into theming the experience from the moment guests enter the attraction. Guests prepare to board a flight that will take them to various National Parks and scenic destinations around the country.

The pre-show features repurposed airplane seats.

Each bay of the attraction has two ride vehicles with five seats per vehicle. Two bays are located on each of the three floors. All photos on this page by Martin Palicki

inparkmagazine.com 11 The Branson Missouri FlyRide is a retrofit installation that was previously a 2,500-seat live performance venue.

The venues Turner is planning on adding a second theater, this one larger Wilderness Resort is a family resort with indoor and outdoor at 60 seats, to the Beyond the Lens attraction in Pigeon Forge, waterparks and other family activities including go-karts and Tennessee. “We have the only flying theater in Branson. But a ropes course. The resort’s $10 million*, 60-seat Take Flight Pigeon Forge is a bigger market; it’s not as seasonal and has more FlyRide attraction is entered through a newly constructed lobby visitors. Because it’s at the crossroads of three major highways, off the main entrance, themed to an airport with windows 70% of the country is within eight hours of Pigeon Forge.” looking out on the National Parks. New characters have been created that tell the story of a young girl going on a flight. Turner continues, “Working with SimEx-Iwerks and MFF has Eventually, guests reach an airport and sit in actual seats from been a very good experience. As they develop the film library, a Delta Airlines plane for their preshow briefing. “We wanted the product only gets better. We’re currently working with something the Wisconsin Dells doesn’t have,” says Ebben. “We them on what the second film will be like for the following wanted to draw business onto our property. With these ride year. Underwater products look really great for this format. vehicles, a family of four or five can have their own vehicle.” I never thought I would be in the business of working with filmmakers, but this collaboration has taken us to a new level of At Branson’s Beyond the Lens, the $8 million*, 40-seat FlyRide entertainment for our guests.” • • • theater was constructed inside a retrofitted, 2,500-seat live performance venue. “It’s technology and entertainment in one, and fits perfectly with our theme,” Turner says. The attraction’s theme is based on a Pan Am-inspired vintage air terminal. “We wanted to give the feeling that you can fly anywhere in the world For more information, visit simex-iwerks.com/products/flyride from here,” he adds.

*Costs include FlyRide® system and film production along with other costs, such as theming, building design and construction, not included with the ride system.

12 inparkmagazine.com Device developments Freetouch BYOD technology helps museums and attractions keep interactives in play by Judith Rubin

few issues currently facing the attractions industry: How the technology to quickly create the Freetouch prototype. “The A to keep experiences engaging and immersive while moving QR/mobile confluence has hit a tipping point that hadn’t existed toward touch-free; how to engage visitors who are already deeply before,” he says. “You used to have to download a separate app engaged with their mobile phones; how to reopen and refresh a to read a QR code but now it’s built in to the camera app on the facility and its exhibits on a pandemic budget - and what to do mobile device. Snap, tap and you are there.” with touchscreen interactives in a time when touching common surfaces is problematic. Touchless and frictionless Based on its attributes and the reaction of early adopters With the launch of his new product Freetouch™ (patent and testers, Freetouch seems likely to be quickly and warmly pending), experience designer Darren David offers an umbrella embraced by the attractions industry. The ability to keep existing solution that not only addresses the issues but suggests new displays viable is good news for suppliers and operators alike, and creative possibilities. the interface should have strong appeal for guests.

As the CEO of Stimulant, David has been on the design and The technology is designed to be what David calls “absolutely production end of things, creating many interactive exhibits for frictionless, with no road bumps between the visitor and the clients in museums, visitor centers, brand experiences, retail and experience,” enabling them to interact with exhibits and access other public-facing environments. When the pandemic hit, those their content without touching anything except their own clients started calling asking for new solutions. Their touchscreen smartphones. It may be the ultimate bring-your-own-device experiences were now potential liabilities. David devised a new, (BYOD) scenario. The visitor points their device at a QR code proprietary platform that brings together QR codes, mobile on the display to initiate immediate control from their mobile devices, and cloud computing, making the most of advances in web browser, with no downloads, registrations or logins required.

The Freetouch system allows visitors to control attraction touchscreens with their own phone or device. All photos courtesy of Freetouch

inparkmagazine.com 13 The smartphone then acts as a touchpad or “virtual mouse” with which the visitor navigates the display, cued by a cursor overlay that appears on the touchscreen.

David says, “Once the web app loads, it’s one tap and your phone works like the touchpad on your laptop, something you already know how to use.” Incorporating the phone into the experience has the obvious advantage of letting the visitor stay in a familiar, high-comfort zone. The phone becomes the liaison to the experience and less of a potential distraction from it. It may even deepen the experience and the connection to the story or content because - face it - for many people something only becomes real when they find it on their own phone.

David has endeavored to ensure a “frictionless” Freetouch experience for the operator as well, with attention to cost, installation and simplicity. Based on dialogue with his clients and Darren David colleagues in the attractions community (“I talked to about 100 clients and potential clients, large and small”) he “knew Freetouch had to fit into an operational budget and not a capital budget, and functionality of the exhibit; it was really just a perfect tool for be easy to install.” this. It’s very simple, just use your cellphone and away you go.” The Timeline Table has five user stations with room for others to Installation and business model gather around. Freetouch installs onto touchscreen PCs from a downloadable executable, and has been designed to work even on older The Center is also in the process of applying Freetouch to operating systems. Freetouch is offering a 14-day free trial and a two other interactive exhibits in the museum that allow users range of purchase and licensing subscription options, and rolling to explore archives of Reagan presidential radio addresses and out a distributor network and creating partnerships with technical White House logs. Each of those accommodates one active user integrators. at a time.

“Our networking infrastructure is built on Microsoft Azure, but About half of the building’s 20,000 square feet is devoted to the visitor-facing components run in the browser in any device, museum galleries and at this writing, the Reagan Ranch Center Apple or Android, phone or tablet,” says David. “We built privacy was working toward opening to the general public within a and security into the system to meet stringent IT requirements. few weeks at about 25% capacity with advance reservations. The development was based on things we’ve learned at Stimulant “Freetouch will allow us to use the interactive exhibits in the way over the past 15 years building systems like this. It’s been really they were intended to be used while maintaining safety aspects,” helpful that we have access to museums and attractions full of says Kilpper. The Center is currently completing a new exhibit touchscreen exhibits where we can can log in and do plenty of (with Stimulant) on the first floor featuring a chunk of the Berlin field testing.” wall, to coincide with the anniversary of the wall’s falling on November 9, 1989. Reagan Ranch Center, early adopter of Freetouch Brent Kilpper is Associate Director of the Reagan Ranch Center Applying Freetouch at the Adler Planetarium in downtown Santa Barbara. The four-story, multi-use facility The Adler Planetarium in Chicago, established in 1930, was the includes a museum that is currently open on a limited basis, first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and continues to be accommodating group visits by reservation. The name of the a leader in the field, known for innovative exhibits and display facility refers to the late US president’s favorite rural getaway, technology. With the physical building closed since mid-March a ranch nestled in the nearby mountains. The Center and the 2020, the Adler has not been able to celebrate its 90th anniversary ranch itself now belong to the Young Americans Foundation, an as originally envisioned, but has continued to serve its community educational 501(c)3. with novel digital offerings as a special committee shapes a strategy to eventually reopen. The centerpiece exhibit in the main gallery of the Reagan Ranch Center is the Timeline Table, a popular, touchscreen interactive. With that in mind, they have been trying out Freetouch on It was extensively re-envisioned and updated in 2019, with various exhibits according to John Beckman, Director, Exhibit the services of Stimulant, and is now also Freetouch enabled. Design and Production, who joined the Adler at the beginning of “We have it up and running now and we’re really pleased,” says the year. To the Adler, Beckman brings 16 years’ prior experience Kilpper. “It lets you use a QR code and turn your phone into with the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. a tracking surface, and it works fantastically. We retained all

14 inparkmagazine.com “Darren came along and it occurred to us that it would be interesting and relatively easy to pilot Freetouch on our dozen or so touchscreens, and that it would give us the opportunity to preserve what we’re doing with those exhibits,” says Beckman. “From an internal point of view it is logistically friendly. It installs easily, most everyone has a good phone nowadays and we have good Wi-Fi. So it is low friction in terms of getting it in on our machines, and for the guest as well.” The Reagan Ranch Center was an early adopter of the Freetouch technology. Experimenting with Freetouch has also stimulated some creative thinking among individuals to interact with displays that might have previously Adler’s in-house team. “Looking at this tool and thinking about been challenging before,” David says. what a post-COVID society will need has made us think about what other practical options we could bring in, and how we “A new interface and a clean solution” might configure immersive exhibits in future,” says Beckman. “This kind of application will definitely apply to broader, “We’re mostly at a very high concept stage right now, but are interactive user experiences using screens, projections or physical working on project proposals for potential renovations when effects,” forecasts Chris Conte, VP New Business Development fundraising gets back into a groove.” at Electrosonic Inc. “Anything that creates a new interface is really the key, and the trend moving this forward is the cellphone A new creative tool for experience design as the connection point,” says Conte, who has partnered with Beyond the immediate retrofit, how might Freetouch influence Stimulant as a content producer on past projects. experience design development? “Freetouch was designed first and foremost to keep existing experiences in operation, but it “Darren has been very clever in making Freetouch as simple as does open up a lot of creative possibilities for the future,” says possible,” says Conte. “You just need some computer chops - David. “We’re already talking to several agencies that are looking installation is really a brief process and then it’s done. The QR at pivoting some of the concept design phases they were in, code enables your smart device to become an extension of the changing the interactive model to something touchless. From the touch interactive. As technical designers, we have been looking experiential side we’re seeing that there are significant features for the right solutions to help operators. Freetouch is intriguing and functionalities to add to the customer experience beyond because it is so personal - we’re already all comfortable with our ‘Hey, I’m afraid to touch this screen.’” phones. It’s also one of the cleanest solutions I’ve seen on the market. It doesn’t require redesigning the experience. I’m excited According to David, Freetouch can be used to transform passive about implementing it in some existing museums and looking at displays to interactive displays. “Existing digital signage or it for new projects.” wayfinding kiosks could be converted to interactive screens,” says David. “The QR code can also be decoupled from the screen, Bottom line: Freetouch was created to enable operators to reopen so a visitor could, for instance, snap a QR code on a pole near with their interactives running as before, avoiding extensive them and gain control over a huge display that’s far away.” Scale technical changes and without taking a big bite out of the budget. is no obstacle. “There’s nothing stopping that newly interactive But it’s way more than a COVID fix. “The response has been screen from being a billboard in Times Square, a stadium display, overwhelmingly positive, people blown away at how deceptively an LED wall or a projection on a magic castle. The phone in the simple of a solution it is,” says David. “We’re talking to some guest’s hand gives them superpowers. Basically we’re enabling very recognizable household brands and we think you’ll be seeing new kinds of interactivity on existing hardware that were not Freetouch on a display near you very soon.” • • • before possible without new hardware.”

It can also be used to enhance accessibility. “Freetouch can Visit getfreetouch.com help designers provide additional ways for mobility impaired

inparkmagazine.com 15 New game in town Former Disney Imagineer Steven Grant leads new Themed Environments Integration program at UF Orlando CityLab interview by Judith Rubin

here’s a new themed entertainment academic program Tin town! In August 2019, the first cohort of 14 students began their studies in the Master of Science in Architectural Studies Concentration in Themed Environments Integration (MSAS|TEI), or Graduate Certificate in Themed Environments Integration (GC|TEI), part of the University of Florida’s CityLab-Orlando, located downtown. In August 2020, the second cohort of 20 students began their studies in the program. (More info at https://dcp.ufl.edu/tei/)

I was fortunate to be in Orlando in January 2020 for a first-hand experience of this program thanks to Program Director Steven Grant AIA who took the time to show me around, explain the curriculum and let me sit in on an in-person class (things have since moved online due to the pandemic). Grant stepped into the role on the heels of a 28-year tenure at Walt Disney Imagineering. – J.R. Steven Grant Please share some background on the development and Architects often lead project teams in traditional practice. structure of the TEI program. Architecture is one of the many disciplines that support the design and development of themed environments but is not UF CityLab-Orlando was founded by the College’s School of the dominant discipline. The leadership in the design and Architecture as an off-campus program offering the Master of development of themed environments (especially theme parks) is Architecture degree. The program began operation in fall 2012. show-based. If you are good at being a supporting cast member, In 2018 the College actively began the process of developing and not the star, it can be - and was for me - an enriching the certificate and master’s degree programs in Themed experience. Environments by engaging industry leaders to help identify the knowledge, skills and abilities needed in the industry. From those Themed environment project teams include disciplines that are meetings emerged the underlying principles for the program not usually part of a traditional architectural project: i.e., artists, and its exclusive focus on the process of developing themed writers, theater technical arts. Because of the complexity of the environments. design of themed environments the focus of the TEI program is collaboration (people) and integration (systems). The TEI program is interdisciplinary. The TEI student body is made up of students with undergraduate degrees in planning, Are many of your students architects? real estate, architecture, theater, film, interior design, recreation, park & tourism management, communications, hospitality, About one-third of our students are studying architecture. They international studies, mechanical and civil engineering, and are either studying for their Master’s Degree in Architecture, and political science. The diversity of knowledge and perspectives taking TEI classes to obtain a Graduate Certificate in Themed that our students bring to the program supports engaging Environments Integration, or they already have a Master’s Degree conversations and a sharing of knowledge. in Architecture and have returned to school to focus on themed environments. In your experience, how does being a working architect in themed entertainment differ from a more traditional How are you training students to understand and function practice of the discipline? well in this team-oriented, interdisciplinary, show- dominated culture of attraction development? Before I was an Imagineer, I had worked in five architectural firms, from the largest AE firm in the world at the time - Multi-discipline teams come up with creative designs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - to small practices in Chicago, New solutions to problems. That is why our classes are made up of York, and Tucson.

16 inparkmagazine.com students with diverse backgrounds and disciplines. The classes provide them the education needed to supplement their existing are engaging and fun. The students are learning from each other. degree so they can be effective integrators and collaborators in This provides them with experience working on interdisciplinary the themed environments industry. teams that they will be a part of when they are in the industry. We do this by providing them an overview of the Themed Professionals are often trained in silos. That is not how actual Environment Industries, including design and delivery processes, practice works. So, we are providing an interdisciplinary learning collaboration practices and systems, interrelated disciplines, environment. When you give a diverse team of students a systems, tools, codes, and standards and fabrication and execution problem to solve, they will always come up with a more creative practices. These are explored through reading, writing, team solution than a team made up of one discipline. They use their projects, guest speakers, project tours, research, and internship. diverse perspectives and training to solve it. Sometimes a student will decide to change focus as a result Tim Brown in his book Change by Design provides a good of what they discover about the industry in the course of the description of our goal: “Design thinkers…cross the ‘T.’ They program. We do what we can to help and advise them in such may be architects who have studied psychology, artists with areas as internships and the choice of thesis project. MBAs, or engineers with marketing experience. A creative organization is constantly on the lookout for people with the How do the Orlando location and your background enrich capacity and - just as important - the disposition for collaboration what the program can offer students? across disciplines. In the end, this ability is what distinguishes the merely multidisciplinary team from a truly interdisciplinary one.” Orlando includes more people and industries that support The objective of our program is to provide the industry with the global themed environments industry than anywhere else, these types of professionals. designing and building theme parks, hotels, resorts, restaurants, and retail around the world. This includes theme park operators I have been able to reach out to my many friends and colleagues and owners with in-house design teams, project management in the themed environments industry for advice on curriculum and design companies, fabrication companies, and architecture, content and to be guests in my classes. During the first year of engineering, planning, landscape architecture and construction the program the students were able to hear from and meet 55 companies. industry professionals during class, and on facility tours. Only in Orlando is this possible! At Imagineering I worked on many teams as an architect and design manager. I stress to my students that the most important How do the students balance team culture training with skill you bring to a project is your ability to work on teams. The focusing on their chosen specialty? projects are complex, and the teams are large.

Our students come into the program with an undergraduate TEI has two advisory committees that represent the above degree. Our intent is not to train them in a new discipline but to industries: the curriculum advisory board and the professional

The August 2020 cohort met regularly online instead of in person.

inparkmagazine.com 17 Students met in person prior to switching to an online course due to the pandemic. All photos courtesy of Steven Grant

advisory committee. The members of these boards are the best concerned that the new students would not get to know each in the industry. The TEI program is a merger of the University other as quickly as the first cohort did, but they have. of Florida’s academic and research resources with Orlando’s broad themed environments industries expertise. Zoom has its benefits. The breakout room function is one them. I can separate the class into smaller groups each week to discuss Tell us a little more about your own background. a team project or focus paper, and then return to the class to present their designs or position on a subject. I grew up in the Midwest. Disneyland was a faraway place. What I remember about the family vacation to Disneyland in 1965 The TEI curriculum includes an interdisciplinary project was riding in the backseat of my family’s non-air-conditioned development studio in the summer. Since this was our first Rambler across the deserts of the West. Working for Disney summer studio, and it was online, we explored “collaboration would not have been a thought. I had never heard of Walt Disney over distance.” Prof. Stephen Bender and I led the class. Imagineering in 1990 when my friend and mentor in Chicago saw The Project Development Studio explored how to improve a wanted ad from the company in California and suggested that collaboration over distance, resulting in a better shared we apply. I applied; four months later I sold my house and moved experience. We explored collaboration at a city scale to the my family to Glendale, California to work for WDI. personal scale of sitting in front of a computer at home. The students learned a lot, but it also provided us with lessons learned You had to transition to remote teaching due to the that we have been able to incorporate into our fall classes. pandemic. Have you found it necessary to alter the curriculum or your approach? Our students have wanted to be in the themed environments industry since they were young. They grew up attending theme It has been a challenging year, but I think it has gone well. I had parks and knowing that there are people who actually design and only been teaching for seven months when I had to transition build them, so the opportunity to study themed environments to online teaching. It was just another challenge to add to the for them has been a desire for years. Whether the classes are in- others. Since the TEI program is focused on collaboration, I was person or over distance they are excited to be in the program. • • •

18 inparkmagazine.com The Riddler Revolution in Gotham City turns a traditional spinning ride into a thrilling attraction with theatrical lighting, special effects and scenic props at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi. Smart park systems Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi delights guests with immersive attractions backed by the latest in show control technology. photos and story by Martin Palicki

ince opening on July 25th, 2018, Warner Bros. World • Justice League: Warworld Attacks – Guests board trackless SAbu Dhabi has received critical acclaim around the globe vehicles that move between various scenes and giant screens for its attention to detail, fun attractions and highly themed for an immersive superhero adventure. environments, and recently received a TEA Thea Award for • Green Lantern: Galactic Odyssey – The typically serene Outstanding Achievement. In 2019, it was certified by Guinness flying theater experience is transformed into an adventurous World Records as the World’s Largest Indoor Theme Park. The romp through space. Park boasts 29 shows and attractions in 1.65 million square feet • Superman 360: Battle for Metropolis – A 360-degree of indoor space. Government developer Miral invested $1 billion theater that utilizes 3D projection to put guests in the middle in the project, which Farah Experiences operates, along with the of Superman’s drama. nearby Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. • The Flintstones Bedrock River Adventure – A log flume ride through the prehistoric world of the Flintstones. Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi is divided into six themed areas: • Scooby-Doo: The Museum of Mysteries – A trackless Metropolis, Gotham City, Bedrock, Dynamite Gulch, Cartoon dark ride where guests help Scooby and the gang solve a Junction and Warner Bros. Plaza. Key attractions include: mystery. • Ani-Mayhem – An interactive dark ride where guests score • Batman: Knight Flight (opened late 2018) – An intense points by hitting an assortment of targets. multimedia ride through Gotham City on a moving robotic arm.

inparkmagazine.com 19 The Metropolis streetscape at Warner Bros. World.

The park, largely designed by Thinkwell Group, has a major focus The deployment of ISAAC at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on details, and the cast of well-known characters brings a wide marks the platform’s largest installation to date. “We had spoken variety of fan-favorite IPs to the table. In addition, the Park also to Thinkwell about ISAAC and knew they were working on a has one of the most impressive technological backbones of any project, but we didn’t know the details,” explains Villet. “Once theme park in the world, nearly all of it invisible to guests. we got the contract we realized the potential to have ISAAC throughout the park.” The AV, projection, media, lighting and special effects create seamless immersive environments throughout the park. Perhaps Smart Monkeys was subcontracted to Electrosonic, who had most obvious on the rides and attractions, they also are apparent been contracted for the Park’s AV network and control package. in the park’s many stores and restaurants. And supporting nearly Smart Monkeys was tasked with show control programming for all of them is the centralized management platform called ISAAC everything in the Park, except for specific show programming, from Smart Monkeys. which was handled by a team of programmers from a variety of organizations, including Electrosonic. Hello, my name is ISAAC ISAAC is an acronym for Integrated Scheduler and Automation ISAAC at Warner Bros. World Controller. “ISAAC is a fully integrated AV/IT platform, which Within Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, there are 14 ISAAC includes centralized scheduling along with the capability of clusters, although Villet says a single cluster would also work. One both system-wide log and user management,” said Stephan cluster controls each of the 13 most high-tech attractions and Villet, Owner, Smart Monkeys. AV and tech systems that rely on shows, while the last, largest cluster provides park-wide control networked PCs are familiar in themed entertainment projects – for the remainder of the Park. Even though there are separate ISAAC builds on this approach without the actual PC hardware. clusters, the ISAAC equipment operates as one central unit. The PCs exist virtually, in an on-premises cloud-based model “virtualization cluster,” on a robust, industrial hardware Villet says the physical layout is a nod to the past, where every platform. According to Villet, this replicates the advantages of attraction would have its own separate equipment room. Warner networked PCs without reliability risks. Bros. World has equipment rooms for each attraction, but since ISAAC lives virtually, one can access the controls for that ISAAC’s debut was at the Tom Bradley International Terminal attraction anywhere in the Park. at LAX in 2014. In the terminal, ISAAC manages more than four hours of original, high-resolution, multimedia content in The Park’s attractions are all run off of the Medialon show seven display areas, synchronizing multiple features based on control product. In a traditional installation, Medialon software intelligence from live data, including flight departure and arrival is installed on a local PC that controls the show or ride. Since information, and passenger interactions. Medialon is platform-agnostic, it easily sits on the ISAAC virtual

20 inparkmagazine.com topology. The only change Medialon made was to the licensing maintenance’s park-wide screen. There is no need for the ride system, which previously relied on USB dongles. operator to call maintenance, as they are directly notified.

“This park-wide installation of ISAAC and Medialon just shows Automatic alerts can also be created for standard maintenance how virtual deployment of show control systems has taken activities. When a projector lamp is due to be replaced, an root and is now taking off,” said Eric Cantrell, VP of Business email is sent to the proper individual. Alerts can be configured Operations, Medialon Ltd, part of the 7thSense Design family. through a simple web interface by staff and do not require special programming knowledge. Pros for pros ISAAC provides a host of advantages to the Park’s staff. First, Finally, the client starts to save a lot of money on space, power the Park can leverage the virtual machine approach for reliability. requirements and capital, because what used to require rooms full The clusters are composed of at least two combined servers of machines now is handled on several small servers. running in a mode called fault tolerance. If one server fails, there is no impact and no downtime, as the other servers take over The future of Warner Bros. World and ISAAC operations. It’s a similar approach to major data centers and the Villet is pleased with the real-world performance of ISAAC at switchover happens in milliseconds. Warner Bros. World. “We had a great synergy with Electrosonic and Medialon and could not have asked for better partners,” Another major benefit is the web application suite that gives says Villet. The system is also capable of easily handling users a portal view with any web browser application. Staff can any expansions the Park would like, although no specific have access to all attraction logs, scheduling, even accessing announcements have been made. the Medialon show control and attraction operations panels. Furthermore, all of it is tracked so management knows who is on “This is truly the first time a whole theme park has been designed the system and where they are. and built around control systems that run entirely in a virtual environment,” said Cantrell. “The Medialon team was proud to From a programming perspective, it’s also ideal. When partner with Smart Monkeys and Electrosonic to help create the programmers came in to do the specific show programming most technologically advanced theme park possible.” for each attraction, they did not have to learn ISAAC, they programmed directly into the Medialon show control software, The Park has continued to attract guests, and the developer Miral just like they would on a standard PC. Additionally, if fixes or already has plans for additional developments nearby. Villet hopes changes are needed down the road, programming can be done ISAAC will be a part of the growth: “With the success of Warner without having to physically go into the attraction. Bros. World, and additional interest we have seen from other parks, I’m certain ISAAC will help usher in a new IT-driven era For maintenance staff, there is a park-wide screen showing the of themed entertainment technology control systems.” • • • entire status of the Park. If there is an issue at an attraction, an alert will directly pop up on the local panel attraction and the

Dynamite Gulch features the Fast and Furry-ous suspended roller coaster.

inparkmagazine.com 21 The Al Wasl dome at Dubai Expo 2020 has projection mapping to highlight and alter the architecture. All photos courtesy of Dubai Expo 2020. Dubai 2021 and beyond World expos upcoming, proposed and planned

by James Ogul xpo 2020 Dubai, the first world exposition to be hosted with the BIE and its member states, the UAE government and Ein the UAE, was to have taken place this year but was the Expo organizer jointly developing guidelines to ensure a safe rescheduled due to the pandemic. The six-month event will now and Covid-free Expo site.” run from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022. The request by the organizers for the expo to be postponed and to keep its Building construction has continued with new worker safety original “2020” title was approved by the executive committee protocols. In a recent article in Construction Week, the vice and member body of the Bureau International des Expositions president for Worker Welfare at Expo 2020 Dubai, Emma (BIE), the Paris-based organization that oversees and regulates Seymour, was quoted saying: “With tens of thousands of world expos. workers to protect, while keeping the UAE’s largest construction project on track in a safe way, we implemented a far-reaching The onset of the global pandemic has not only forced the event program of precautionary measures across the entire site, in line to be delayed by a year, but organizers have also had to rethink with guidance from the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention the logistics behind it in terms of protecting public safety once and the Dubai Health Authority, and the latest information and the gates are open. This includes social distancing and other advice from the World Health Organization.” Expo 2020 has set health and safety measures. up three medical and Covid-19 testing facilities on site, which are open around the clock, seven days a week. The BIE noted recently on its website that preparations for the event are continuing following precautionary measures Expo “starchitecture” established by UAE authorities, stating, “All participating country The organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai have moved aggressively to pavilion construction is set to be completed by the end of 2020, complete their thematic pavilions. When it comes to world’s fairs,

22 inparkmagazine.com a six-month expo is the big one - an enormous, global showcase VIP facility. Ambassador Rakolta has said the UAE’s contribution of many things, one of which is architecture. There’s a tendency will be supplemented by private sector donations. Pepsi is a for it to become a platform for creativity by leading architects confirmed sponsor. around the globe. That’s a substantial part of the aesthetic appeal of a world’s fair for the public; professionally, a world expo As of September 28, Austria had completed its building project confers status on the designers, organizers and exhibitors. construction. The pavilion, designed by Viennese architect Querkraft, consists of 38 cone structures in various heights. In past decades, expo buildings were often torn down after It can be dismantled at the end of the Expo and reassembled closing day. In today’s more sustainability-conscious time, there’s elsewhere. Next will be interior fit-out for the pavilion which a post plan for the site and for repurposing or responsibly will take place over the coming months leading to the October 1, disposing of buildings that is integral to the planning and 2021 opening. operational strategy of the event and informs the design from the start. Expo 2020 Dubai is no exception. Finland’s Pavilion, designed by architecture firm JKMM, is 90% complete. As reported in Gulf Today, Commissioner General of The Expo centerpiece, the Al Wasl Plaza, designed by Adrian Finland at Expo 2020 Dubai Severi Keinala said: “Our decision Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) Chicago and to postpone the final construction elements of our pavilion Beijing, is complete. According to the firm’s press announcement, was made to ensure the final aesthetic elements are as fresh as “Al Wasl, which is 150 meters in diameter, was designed to have possible for the Oct. 2021 opening. In particular, the exterior not only the ‘wow factor’ but also to be a central hub during the membrane of the pavilion will be added closer to the opening Expo and beyond. Expo 2020 Dubai worked with AS+GG on date, as this white surface is what will bring our Snow Cape to the design of the space after the firm beat competition from life.” some of the biggest names in the industry to win the contract. The plaza is topped by a 65-meter-high domed trellis that was Work on the structure of the Belgian Pavilion, designed jointly inspired by the shape of the Expo 2020 Dubai logo. The trellis by Assar Architects and Vincent Callebaut Architectures working will act as an immersive 360-degree projection surface. As the with Besix construction company and scenographic designer dome is translucent, the projection will be visible to both those Krafthaus, is scheduled to finish in December, after which the inside and out. The numerous other features of the plaza include building will be closed off for two to three months. In March, restaurants, fountains, and parks.” work will start on the interior finishing and the installation of sensitive equipment and the many plants and trees that will adorn Al Wasl Plaza connects the three thematic districts - Opportunity, the pavilion. It is planned to be fully completed by the end of Sustainability and Mobility - and the other main concourses, August 2021. including the Dubai Metro link and the UAE Pavilion, through its seven entrances and exits. The Sustainability Pavilion, designed The UK pavilion is looking for music artists to provide source by the New York and Dubai offices of architecture studio material for its pavilion. The design team is led by Es Devlin and Grimshaw, is surrounded by solar tracking trees to provide the agency Avantgarde, with Atelier Ten providing sustainability electricity to the pavilion. It is largely completed and will reopen and engineering services. People from around the world are being as a science museum after the expo. invited by the UK to collaborate and contribute to a seven- minute long composition by British sound designers Polyphonia. The Mobility Pavilion, designed by Foster + Partners (New York) Talking to Construction Week about the current construction is also largely complete. The pavilion will include a 340-meter progress, UK Commissioner General Laura Faulkner said: “We track for visitors to see vehicles in operation. The Opportunity have mobilized 100%. The substructure which is critical is 96% pavilion is designed by AGi Architects (Kuwait and Madrid). The complete. The façade is about 50% and the superstructure adjacent UAE pavilion is designed by Spanish architect Santiago is about 40% complete.” Faulkner said by December 2020, Calatrava and resembles a falcon in flight. the pavilion could be viewed in its “entirety,” except for the technology that will go within the exhibition and curation of the Participants’ pavilions near completion visitor journey. On site construction by international participants is proceeding. U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and U.S. Pavilion Groundbreaking for the 25-meter high Italian Pavilion took place Commissioner General, John Rakolta, Jr. has announced that in November 2019. The pavilion covers an area of 4,900 square building construction for the pre-fab United States Pavilion is meters and is located near the pavilions of India, Germany, scheduled for completion by November 15. The U.S. Pavilion Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States. The pavilion features which has had a troubled funding history is now on track thanks three inverted ship’s hulls over its roofline and ropes integrating to $60 million in backing from the UAE. Building construction LED lighting technology. Designers are a consortium of Italy’s will be followed by interior fit-out. The exhibition is being Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA), Italo Rota Building Office, F&M designed by Thinkwell Group and will consist of six exhibit Ingegneria, and Matteo Gatto & Associati. RAQ Contracting is galleries totaling 16,000 square feet, a performance stage and a builder.

inparkmagazine.com 23 Site preparations continue in Dubi in advance of the delayed Expo. All photos courtesy of Dubai Expo 2020.

Overall, interior fit-out for all pavilions will require careful interventions and medical treatments in the coming months. planning by each participant given the long delay until opening, After all, how far we have come in the few months since with most countries opting not to install all their high-tech show Covid-19 was recognised as a global pandemic. That’s why, for system equipment right away. Ironically for all past expos it has now, we are sticking with our expectation of 25 million because been a rush to the finish line to complete pavilions in time but the world will be very different in just a few months, let alone the new thinking is required here to properly pace installations over next 13 months that we have until the event time.” months of preparation time. Looking beyond Dubai 2020 Attendance projections Upcoming world expos registered with the BIE include the As for the question of whether the one-year delay will affect International Recognized Exhibition, Expo 2023 Buenos Aires attendance, there are currently no revised visitor targets for Expo and the International Registered Exhibition, Expo 2025 Osaka 2020 Dubai. Pre-coronavirus, organizers had forecast attracting Kansai, respectively a three-month and six-month event. 25 million visits over the six-month expo. Buenos Aires, Argentina has earned BIE approval to host Expo Sumathi Ramanathan, director of destination marketing at Expo 2023. The expo will run January 15-April 15, 2023. Buenos Aires 2020 recently stated, “We believe it’s premature for us to be prevailed over bids from Lodz (Poland) and Minnesota. making any meaningful revision to the data, but by quarter one next year we will be able to share the revised visitation numbers.” Japan will be the host country of Expo 2025. Japan submitted a She went on to say, “I think more than the revised visitation definitive implementation plan, known as a registration dossier, in numbers, what we are really able to see is the appetite and January 2020. This dossier is in review to prepare for the formal demand for Expo is very strong, particularly from the business registration of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai by the BIE General community. We will be able to attract a new portfolio of visitors Assembly. The Expo will open April 13, 2025 and close October to Dubai because of this event. That will include multinationals, 13, 2025. Its theme is “Designing Future Society for Our lives.” it will include academic institutions, non-profits, a huge number of entities that are interested in technology, in sustainability.” The BIE will be taking bids for Specialized Expo 2027-2028 and World Expo 2030. There are no official bids so far for these two In summary, plans for Expo 2020 Dubai are proceeding toward slots although Minnesota, MN (US) and Malaga (Spain) have the new opening date of October 1, 2021. Reem bint Ebrahim Al publicly indicated interest in 2027-2028 and Houston, TX (US) Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Busan, (South Korea) on 2030. and Director-General of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau, stated, “Expo 2020 Dubai’s core purpose - to bring the world together Specialized expos to develop solutions to challenges that affect us all - will be even Specialized, three-month expos, known officially as more relevant when the Expo begins on October 1, 2021. We “International Recognized Exhibitions,” are sandwiched between firmly believe that we will see huge advances in preventative the larger, six-month events. Their exhibition area can span up to 25 hectares.

24 inparkmagazine.com The BIE requires governments of a country wishing to host a After one country has submitted its application to the BIE, all specialized expo to submit a letter of candidacy to the BIE no competing countries have six months to submit their own bids. sooner than six years prior to the date of the event, after which Applications must mention the host city, the theme, the dates, any other country wishing to compete has six months to bid. duration, a guarantee of the fulfillment of its obligations, and the In January, BIE Secretary General of the Bureau International legal status of the organizers. des Expositions Dimitri S. Kerkentzes visited the Spanish city of Malaga to discuss preparations for a potential bid to host a Houston, Texas may be bidding on World Expo 2030. The Expo specialized expo in 2027. The Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Houston Facebook page states, “It has been 35 years since the Torre, previously visited the BIE headquarters in Paris in October US hosted a World’s Fair. It’s time to bring the World’s Fair back 2019 to discuss the project. Following this meeting, the Mayor to America!” invited the BIE to visit Malaga to meet with the team working on the potential bid and to visit the site the city is considering for South Korea may bid to host in Busan in 2030. The country the event. The area earmarked for the Expo project covers an has previously hosted two three-month expos: Taejon 1993 80-hectare zone in the Buenavista area of Campanillas, located in and Yeosu 2012. The proposed expo would run from May the east of Malaga. to November 2030 with the theme, “Sharing the Wisdom of Human Coexistence and Prosperity – Connecting Human, The state of Minnesota (US) plans to submit a letter of candidacy Technology and Culture.” • • • to host the 2027 Specialized Exposition. Its theme would be “Healthy People, Healthy Planet.” The proposed expo would last Since retiring from the US State Department for three months opening on May 9, 2027. in 2011 after a 30+ year career in world expos, James Ogul has remained on the scene in an advisory World expos and consulting role. He writes regularly for InPark World Expos, known officially as “International Registered Magazine about world’s fairs. His book, “Tales from Exhibitions,” take place every five years and run six months with the Expo” is free online at inparkmagazine.com. no limit on size. A country must submit its bid to host to the BIE between six and nine years before the proposed opening date.

inparkmagazine.com 25 The Fram Museum lets guests experience life on a historic Norwegian sailing vessel. Photo courtesy of The Fram Museum. TEA Thea Awards Digital Case Studies showcase Fram Museum, Pageant of the Masters and The Google Assistant Ride TEA maintains its prestigious awards cycle in an online format

by Joe Kleiman

ach year, the Themed Entertainment Association recognizes restored ship was placed inside an A-frame building, becoming Ethose projects that showcase “excellence for the creation of the centerpiece of the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway. compelling educational, historical and entertainment projects” with the annual TEA Thea Awards. In the latest refurbishment to the museum, Sarner International was brought on board to add a vivid new dimension to the To honor the recipients this year, TEA has been presenting a visitor experience, under the guidance of Fram Museum Director seven-session series, TEA Thea Awards Digital Case Studies, Geir Klover. Central to the vision would be projections on the running through mid-November 2020. Here we look at three of interior of the A-frame, giving the illusion of being in the icy the project presentations. polar waters for those on the ship’s deck. According to Sarner’s Ed Cookson, the solution involved 10 projectors mounted to the Visit the InPark website for additional coverage of the 26th masts of the ship itself and hidden in the rigging, blended into a annual Thea Awards recipients including honorees Nancy Seruto 270° 10K image. of WDI, the Christie Eclipse projector, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience, The Cool Planet Experience In addition to the projections, three floors of interior sections of and more. And in this issue, see Martin Palicki’s article on Warner the ship were fitted up to help visitors get an authentic sense of Bros. World Abu Dhabi. life onboard underdecks, drawing on stories of the actual crew of the Fram. According to Cookson, the concept was to “pack Exploring the frontier: The Fram Museum the ship full of provisions and tools and personal belongings, but In December 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen most importantly transform that ambience of being expedition- became the first person to reach the South Pole. The ship that ready with atmospheric lighting, audio, and smells – really try to took him to Antarctica was the Fram. Put to sea in 1892, she was capture the excitement as if the ship had just launched and was already a tried and true vessel, having played a key role in the off on one of its expeditions.” exploration of Greenland and both polar regions. In 1935, the

26 inparkmagazine.com Klover indicated that the upgrade has been a success in terms of enhancing the visitor experience as well as helping the museum achieve a more revenue-based model, and that a new phase of development is planned.

Honoring the classics: Pageant of the Masters “Laguna was known as an arts colony going all the way back to the 1880s,” says Diane Challis Davy, Director/Producer of the Festival of the Masters in Laguna Beach, Calif. During the Great Depression, an art festival arose in the town, and in order to draw visitors, it expanded to include concerts and embark on the creation of living pictures – the recreation of classic paintings and sculptures using real people and theatrical sets. The Pageant of the Masters, as a professionally produced event, was introduced by director Roy Ropp in 1935 and is the 2020 Google installed their temporary dark ride at the 2019 Consumer recipient of the annual Thea Classic Award, honoring a project Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Photo courtesy of Google. that has stood the test of time. In 1936, Ropp introduced The Last Supper as the finale to the Pageant. According to Challis Connecting people through technology: Davy, “with the exception of a few years, we’ve been doing The The Google Assistant Ride Last Supper as our finale ever since.” Challis Davy also shared a In 2019, Google designed and built from the ground up a secret to the live presentation’s success: “To give the illusion of a bespoke dark ride as part of its exhibit at the annual Consumer flat painting, we eliminate all natural shadows from the scene.” Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a novel achievement that differentiated Google’s presence from that of the other “We simply could not do it without our volunteers,” says Sharbie exhibitors. And they did it at warp speed: 12 weeks from design Higuchi, the Pageant’s Director of Marketing, Public Relations, to build to opening, according to Anne Kelly, the lead producer and Merchandise. In addition to appearing in the tableaus, on the project. “Everything that normally was a year was now volunteers take on a number of technical roles, including set a month, everything that was a month was now a day,” says fabrication, painting, and costuming. “It takes over five hundred Kelly. A key tool in succeeding with the accelerated timeline was of them in order to put a show on and they come from all over previsualization. Southern California. We have had a lot of attention from other theatrical producers from within the entertainment industry who According to the TEA’s Thea Awards Committee: “With only wanted to recreate or reproduce the Pageant of the Masters. four days of physical operation at one of the largest trade However, they find out really quickly that it’s simply just not shows in the world, The Google Assistant Ride carried more financially possible because you need that volunteer support to than 25,000 guests through a custom, 30,000-square-foot show make it happen.” building and delivered an exceptional, ride-based attraction experience with theme-park-quality animation, special effects and show lighting. The 15-minute experience included a three- minute puppeteer interactive preshow and a five-minute ride incorporating extensive use of animatronics, an original song, fog and scent machines as well as on-board video to demonstrate Google technologies.”

Marcelo Alba, Creative Strategist, Events and Experiences at Google, points out, “The story is built around a family.” The ride follows a father trying to purchase a birthday cake for the family’s grandmother. Throughout the day, he is guided in the right direction by Google’s new Google Assistant. The attraction maintained a unique design aesthetic. Although influenced by research trips to Disneyland, the ride had a distinct Google feel. According to Alba, “Everything from the character design to the song design had to be uniquely us.” • • •

We will continue our coverage of the Themed Entertainment Association’s Virtual Case Studies series in our next issue. Complete coverage of the series is also available online at inparkmagazine.com A performer receives final adjustments at the Pageant of the Masters. Photo courtesy of Pageant of the Masters.

inparkmagazine.com 27 Transitions 2020 Industry professionals exploring new outlets interviews by Martin Palicki & Judith Rubin Stephane Battaille From project management to management

tephane Battaille joined Belgium-based company Alterface Sin 2008. Over the past twelve years he has held several roles within the company, most recently assuming the role of CEO from company founder Benoit Cornet. His project management and technical experience have informed his progression into this executive role.

What brought you to work for Alterface initially?

I was working as a research engineer at the University of Louvain La Neuve, in the same University lab where the core system of Alterface, the Salto Software, was created. management to technical team management, then operation A few years after Alterface’s creation, still in start-up mode, the organization and finally company strategy. company needed to have a project manager to work on their growing projects. With my background in electromechanics and What do you hope to accomplish as CEO? computers I was able to embrace the many technical aspects that compose an interactive media based ride. At this pioneering stage Throughout my time at Alterface, I have felt the extraordinary of interactive attractions, project management required a deep potential of Alterface and this team. There are so many ideas hands-on approach as almost every element of the rides had to that we would like to implement. My goal as a CEO is to create be invented. an environment in the company that promotes creativity but provides enough scalability so we can realize all the projects we What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on? have in mind.

Dragon Wild Shooting (opened in 2013) at Lotte World has The industry is in a strange time now…what do you think been one of my fondest experiences ( it was also my last project the future looks like from your viewpoint in Belgium? as project manager). I personally learned so much during the different phases of the project in the contact of the extraordinary It is difficult to comprehend what things will look like and what team that The Hettema Group had assembled. On top of the the short-term and long-term impacts on our industry will be. great working experience, for me the end result is a hidden gem What is certain for me is that people will continue to need escape in terms of guest experience. from normal life and that themed entertainment will continue to create amazing experiences in many forms. It will take more time Maus au Chocolat (2011) at Phantasialand is one of my proudest to get there as I am afraid that the impact of COVID will remain personal achievements, as it was a major technical achievement for quite a long time. for Alterface at that time. We are now seeing our customers requesting more and more What has kept you with Alterface for so long? deviceless interactivity. Having started the company focusing on deviceless interactivity, human detection and gesture recognition I was hooked on Alterface from day one! To be able to conceive systems, this is quite interesting to return to our roots, but and produce cutting edge systems designed to entertain people with the experience we gained over the years in creating many remains a passion ever since. Working with a large pool of different interactive systems. For us, the technology or device talented and deeply passionate people in their different fields is itself is not important, the only focus should remain to design an what keeps it exciting over the years. The influx of colleagues has application which is intuitive, straightforward and engaging for allowed me to change roles over the years, moving from project the user. •

28 inparkmagazine.com Maya Guice Relevance and authenticity

quick glance at the resume for Maya Guice (like “nice,” A but with a G) and one can’t help but notice the breadth and depth of her experience in marketing, communications and business management. Her career has taken her from Los Angeles to Europe, and now back to southern California as she takes on the role of Marketing Director for BRC Imagination Arts, soon to celebrate its 40th year in business.

What attracted you to BRC?

Many people with my mixed professional background land in the experience business having never heard of it before. I can say that I had the same experience, discovering BRC almost by sharing a piece of history, driving fan engagement, selling a bottle accident. As soon as I started to dig into BRC’s work, however, of scotch, or marketing a TV show, the ability to create a truly I realized that I was very familiar with many of BRC’s projects. I authentic, emotional and immersive guest experience has become was immediately intrigued and impressed – who wouldn’t want to the new measure of cultural relevance and resultant success. work for a company that translates brand and cultural stories into For this reason, what has generally been considered a marketing transformative, human experiences!? problem is now acknowledged as a business problem. This is why we’re seeing so many companies begin to dip their toe in the Although marketing has become my core focus, I’m a generalist experience and immersive entertainment space. at heart. I always look for a role that allows me to grow while adding value. So when looking for new marketing opportunities, I Fundamentally, it doesn’t matter what business or region you’re was really looking for something that would allow me to touch all in, or what communities you serve, the brands that prioritize aspects of marketing, including social media, content production, their customer’s dreams and desires are the ones that will survive. PR, and events. As soon as I read BRC’s job description for Good brand experiences celebrate the corporation; great brand Marketing Director, I knew that this would be the perfect experiences celebrate their guests. This will always be true. role for me, balancing creativity with business acumen, and communications with analytics. In what ways do you think experience designers can impact the arts and cultural spaces? I’ve also discovered that I share a lot of BRC’s values – sustainability, collective advancement, transformation, creative I spent about 90% of my teens and early twenties in the dance excellence – and have found a job that allows me to have an studio, so I am very familiar with the obstacles encountered by impact on the world: every experience and attraction is an not only dancers but performing artists in general. In college, I opportunity to tell stories that bring people together and inspire a self-designed a performing arts administration major and have a more peaceful, sustainable and hopeful world. Suffice to say that very specific memory of reading an article that highlighted the this has proved to be an incredible fit. problem of the performing arts’ diminishing audience. One issue that the author pointed out is that it’s very hard to innovate and What have you observed in both the US and Europe with digitalize the performing arts experience: you sit in a theater and how the entertainment world is evolving? watch a show. The raw experience of seeing a performer pour their guts out on stage is almost impossible to duplicate online. A Los Angeles native, I’ve lived in both London and Berlin. I’m always shocked at how entrenched American culture is in Europe I think that experience designers bring a very unique perspective and all over the world, really. That said, I think that while many to what constitutes a show and can help the arts community think trends in entertainment still emerge from the US, the internet has beyond the proscenium stage. How might we use technology to democratized access to content creation and distribution tools, make performances multi-sensory? How might we create deeper effectively blurring the lines between professional and amateur fan engagement? How might we be entrepreneurial? entertainment. Internet connectivity and infrastructure continues to improve all over the world and the ability to influence and BRC has done incredible work in the culture sector, helping entertain is now fair game. museums, venues and attractions adopt a more entrepreneurial mindset. We help these cultural organizations create experience I also believe that experiences are not only the future of platforms that can accommodate a variety of interchanging entertainment but the leisure industry as a whole. Whether you’re entertainment formats, whether it’s a masterclass, immersive

inparkmagazine.com 29 experience, or live performance. This strategy has helped the stunned into silence. While I thought I had a good idea of BRC’s cultural institutions we work with adopt an ‘always on’ mentality work, I quickly realized that BRC’s capabilities and expertise and feel better prepared to survive the present shutdown. For surpassed even my wildest expectations! I continue to be blown instance, despite the hiatus of live performances at the Ryman away by the scale and scope of what BRC has been able to Auditorium in Nashville, the tour experience still makes it accomplish over the past 40 years on an almost daily basis. possible for fans to safely visit the “mother church” of country music. I had the luxury of spending my first month at BRC digging through the digital archives and became very familiar with BRC’s How is the art of marketing changing during this portfolio. BRC is very unique in their ability to masterfully pandemic? How should companies be marketing blend storytelling, creative technology, business intelligence, themselves? imagination, and heart to create some of the most incredible attractions and experiences in the world. Projects that opened When the pandemic hit I think many marketers asked themselves: 30+ years ago are still engaging and culturally relevant today. This Should we carry on or hit the pause button? If we don’t speaks to BRC’s core competence in storytelling and the team’s acknowledge the virus will we appear completely tone-deaf? If ability to artfully craft peak human experiences. I can’t wait until we do, are we shamelessly inserting ourselves into the moment? it’s safe to travel again so that I can experience this incredible work firsthand. The pandemic has caused everyone to carefully reconsider what matters most, with a new appreciation for the people I was also surprised to meet so many BRC employees who had and communities closest to us. Purpose has taken center stage. been on the team for 25+ years. A week after I started, Vice Marketers will need to lean in close and listen to the new President and Executive Producer Marci Carlin celebrated her expectations and the needs their customers have not only right 35th anniversary with the company. BRC has a powerful culture now, but after the pandemic. What new stories are emerging and of family. The experience and attractions business requires long, how are they being told? What values have emerged as most demanding hours, so this culture and a high degree of trust are important? The marketers who are listening to and prioritizing critical to fostering tight and highly collaborative teams. the needs of their customers will always be in the best position to respond. Tell us about the rebranding effort you will be leading at BRC. As someone new to this industry, what is your perspective on BRC and what they have accomplished over the past 40 Well, I can’t disclose too much at the moment! Suffice to say years? that it will be an inspiring new chapter for BRC. 2021 is our 40th anniversary year and there will be no shortage of exciting news After I was hired I had a call with BRC Executive Creative coming out throughout the year. • Director and Vice President, Christian Lachel. He started to walk me through the company’s more recent projects and I was InPark Magazine’s 2021 Publishing Schedule #86 - Looking forward to 2021 #88 - Waterparks continue to entertain 2020 was an interesting year. We look at - plus, our European review the technologies and advancements allowing We look at waterpark attendance figures, review parks to survive and thrive in 2021. new projects from Europe and more. Published: March 2021 Published: September 2021

#87- A special focus on technology and #89 - IAAPA Expo: The year in review the Asian attractions landscape and looking ahead We highlight the Asian attractions industry and the In anticipation of the IAAPA Expo, we review latest in technology. some of the greatest projects, products and Published: June 2021 people from themed entertainment. Published: November 2021 Reserve space in your favorite issues today! [email protected] 30 inparkmagazine.com Stoneface Inc. The Sculpted Rock Artisans CA License 1001362 - AZ License 308722 - UT License 10614867-5501

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