iMyth

Tag: Location-Based Immersive Experiences

  • Disney Contributing to Location-Based Experiences

    Disney Contributing to Location-Based Experiences

    I like to stay abreast with technological developments which not only advance location-based entertainment but interactive storytelling as well. This new announcement from Disney sounds interesting. Disney research just filed a patent for a new head mounted display(HMD) and a gizmo which is referred to as an “Air Flow Generator”. I have no information about the HMD but the air-flow generator sounds interesting.

    This air-flow generator evidently generates gusts of directed airfields which can be used to simulate the haptic sensation of the movement of a virtual object such as sword swinging, animal moving etc. In addition, the generator can also manipulate the smell of the generated air gusts to simulate particular smells such as the smell of soil, smell of flower, etc.

    For sure there are many other air field generators, (fans), which can be actuated by trigger events within an experience. However, these have always been very “low frequency, high amplitude”, for lack of better terms, sensations. This generator sounds very localized and directed. There have also been other manufacturers of HMD attachments promising custom generated scents. This gizmo, as an external generator, promotes more of a collaborative, shared experience. The Void produces similar sensations in their experiences. I am unfamiliar with their technology.

    In a conversation with an Imagineer many years ago, I think Disney is on to a product which can really contribute to large scale experiences. He told me exactly how such a gizmo exactly like this could be implemented. Maybe he decided to have Disney research actually implement it?

    If this product is what I think it is then I believe it could make a significant contribution for the location-based entertainment market. An apparatus such as this could not be marketed for home use. If location-based immersive experiences are to be bigger, bolder and more fantastic than home based experiences, then this technology could aid in widening the gap between home and location-based. Of course there is a huge dependency on how reconfigurable this device is. However, if it fully reconfigurable and “dynamic”, then it will contribute to an experience that is physical, collaborative and highly memorable, (Always unique) – Just what the iMyth team ordered.

  • No Man’s Sky to fulfill my prophecy?

    No Man’s Sky to fulfill my prophecy?

    Quite a few years ago, I was very excited about a project called No Man’s Sky, No Man’s Sky and No Man’s Sky Grammar Based Universe. For me this represented the very first wide-open Grammar Based Universe. You may be asking, “What is a grammar based universe?” If you follow the prior link you’ll be inundated by a long winded answer. For the short attention spanned present, a grammar based universe is a fancy way of describing a procedurally-driven world. There is a lot of confusion between the terms Procedural and Automated, and there are some very big differences. Procedural means the implementation of a set of rules and expressions which complement an artists’ skills far beyond what she could create unaided. The important factor here is without human input, there can be no procedurally created worlds. Automation is allowing the computer to create with human assistance. Without going into too much theoretical detail, automation cannot efficiently create realistic CGI worlds. Only when the processes are procedural can life be breathed into the CGI creations.

    No Man’s Sky represented the very first Grammar Based Universe or an entire alternative reality created by artists with the aid of a set, (a very complicated set), of rules and expressions. Regretfully, when the game came out, the gamers were not thrilled. While the Universe itself was impressive, the game-play was not. I did not purchase the game myself so I cannot judge for myself. However, No Man’s Sky appears to be rising from the ashes and being re-released as a VR game. Not only has the game received a google of improvements, it is now multi-player. This is even more exciting since now Not only is No Man’s Sky the first grammar based universe, it is also the first grammar based immersive experience theme world. While I am assuming it still maintains its procedurally driven origins, it now maintains the three fundamental rules of being an immersive experience theme world. A theme world is any collection of all possible human experiences related to a similar concept yet bound rigidly by one central story, theme or cannon; the theme world heart.

    No Man’s Sky is A Theme World – The entire experience is based on the spirit, of exploration and discovery of the the entire universe.

    No Man’s Sky Is physical. Being shifted to VR projects the third person, over the shoulder experience, into the first person. Equipped with CGI hands, the participant is now empowered to explore the universe from the first person perspective.

    No Man’s Sky Is Collaborative. The gameplay is now multi-player. Participants may now explore and , “do things” in the universe either by themselves or with their buddies.

    No Man’s Sky Is Unrepeatable. The entire universe is open for exploration such that no two world necessarily need to be the same. I am not sure of the exact number but I believe there is not enough time in the history of the universe to explore every one of the world No Man’s Sky creates.

    No Man’s Sky is an at home, or non-location-based experience. However, I am very excited for the game to achieve popular status. I want the audience to develop a taste for massive world discovery. The exploration of an open world with occurring events is the spirit of iMyth and I believe this type of experiential media will gain in popularity.

    As this type of media continues to grow in popularity, iMyth will continue to generate new grammar based universes based in different theme worlds; some familiar and some new. With the iMyth arena, the exploration of these theme worlds can not only happen from the home but in location-based facilities where participants can participate in the fullest immersive sensory experience possible.

  • Alien: Descent, the next installment in Location Based Immersive Entertainment

    Alien: Descent, the next installment in Location Based Immersive Entertainment

    I would be on the look out for more events such as this since I believe it will become more and more common. Location-based VR could be a $1 billion industry by the end of the year and grow to a $12 billion industry by 2023, according to projections from Greenlight Ventures.

    Alien:Descent is the newest attraction to hit The Outlets at Orange, in Orange County California. Not much is known about the attraction other than a participant and three other friends will find themselves investigating the beleaguered Weyland-Yutani mining station. I don’t know what they will find there but I have a strong suspicion that this will be an Aliens theme re-skinning of the Zero Latency, zombie shoot-em up attraction.

    Pure Imagination is the studio behind the attraction. I don’t know much about them other than being located in good old Van Nuys, where Rocketsled once had an office. The attraction claims to be wireless. This is OK. But there must be some kind of quality compromise for choosing to go this direction. Co-founder Joshua Wexler exclaims, “Even though it’s wireless, the company believes it’s achieved a visual quality as good as, or even better than the tethered VR experiences available today.” Whether or not this is true will yet to be seen. I personally am suspicious.

    Participants will be wearing mocap markers on their hands and feet. I have no idea what system they are using, but they will need an external computer to handle the tracking calculations and then pump them to each of the individual displays. My suspicion is that the treatment given to avatars will be no better then Zero Latency or even The Void.

    Good Luck Pure Imagination and Alien: Descent. We are all rooting for you to keep delivering quality experiences that can’t happen at home!