Re: Alton Towers submits planning permission
I am so torn about this now. Brace yourself, Joey is bored on a train so here's my run down of thought vomit on Air's VR...
I know of two people with an Occulus Rift, both of which seem really interested and excited by this, and by and large those who've actually ridden the coasters which have had VR tests speak pretty highly of the experience. However, without wishing to offend and merely be realistic, the majority of situations in which people have had exposure to and reported on these things comes - I wonder - with the social pressure to not be too critical. If you're involved with something, be that professionally or through friends or, say, an event a park was nice enough to put on, you're probably not going to be so honest of its flaws.
I know I come across as overly harsh a lot of the time, but I consider every tiny flaw because they're more interesting and important points of discussion. Let the industry over-praise every tiny victory, cool feature and positive attribute, we're here to be honest. Overlooking flaws is problematic however minor they seem, because then things never have a chance to be better, and every industry is full of people lining up to give praise in return for perks, access or, well... a job. Its not cool.
My main worry about VR, in general not just with coasters or rides, is that even the best quality is not quite good enough yet. Some things just work at lower advancement, some things just look cool regardless, but a fully immersive digital world can only be acceptable if it is outstandingly realistic. High budget gaming is getting there, arguably is there for those with access to powerful enough systems, but the footage produced for attractions? No. Just. No. I watched Europa's and they are laughably bad, and Europa is a big game player who thrust money into their projects because they are effectively a living brochure for the Mack company. Do we honestly think Merlin have the kind of budgets to commission something of equal, let alone the required better quality?
When this was first rumoured, I wondered why Air... Why not Thirteen? Man that could have been a cool enhancement on a lacking ride. Air is still popular, Air is a major, substantial ride at Alton. But, whether this was part of the reason why or not, with hindsight I'm glad... Air's ambiguous theme allowed them to go with the pretty abstract world of space, where the objects required are a hell of a lot easier to render in a believable style. A sensible choice and one which allows a sciency tie in to the tech... Nice.
But, vomit. I know I keep going on about this, but even the OR causes nausea when you aren't moving. A lot of people keep bringing up the fact that if the footage and movements are even slightly out of sync, this will cause nausea... But even in perfect conditions I think it will, just exasperated by any syncing issues and the like. The very fact that this is something on a rider's face will cause nausea in some people. And its not as if Air didn't ever have vomit lining the break run anyway, it's awkward riding position probably not helping motion sickness. And that vomit will get on the head sets. It will. And they won't be adequately washed.
Then there's reliability. These will go wrong, they will break, they will get damaged. Before long, they won't have enough. Guests will be given faulty headsets, because there's no way to test them all daily and no way to know if guests reporting broken ones are mistaken, if the brokenness is substantial enough to warrant removing the headset completely... I just cannot imagine they'll have enough of them or that they will last long enough to make it to the end of the season with enough. Not to mention, being out of sync and causing nausea most likely won't be reported by guests.
Then there's the question... How in the hell is this going to actually work? They freak out about phones being out on ride, but not these headsets? Even if they're attached to the train somehow, the chance of it smacking someone in the face is surely high? I sit here thinking, someone MUST have thought of this and solved it, but history makes me skeptical.
Of course, there's also concerns about how this will operationally affect Air's loading and unloading. It will affect it, but how much is a pure guess for EVERYONE, even those designing how it operates, until staff are on the ground experiencing it.
But the biggest wtf of all is... Who's going to care? Not in a, I'm at the park and I'd like to try it if the queue isn't ridiculous kind of care, the money creating kind of care? Now, that's not to say that enhances to guest experience only felt on park aren't super important, because they definitely are. Make a day good, rewarding, clean, friendly and throw in some awesome enhancing experiences and your guests happiness and likleiness to recommend and return multiples... But is this that kind of experience? I'm ...Not sure. To me this feels like a real niche concept, likely to turn as many people off as it will attract, if not more. VR is a hot topic, supposedly, and it often feels like everything Merlin does is for the sole aim of marketability. But not appropriate marketability. it's the kind that ticks boxes, but as an overall concept never sounds so great... It's interactive, it's new tech, it's an IP, etc. But no one stops to go... but, er, guys that doesn't sound compelling as a whole?
Will I try Galactica? Erm. That genuinely depends on if I'm content with the sanitation of those headsets. And also the queue length. I'm going to assume the queue will be long due to operational woes, not popularity... But it will be a good few months before we know. And even then, will last years backlash continue into this new season? Maybe appealing to the more forward thinking, sensible, tech loving crowd will be good for them. Its certainly better than had this years new thing been family focused.
I'm still shocked its not just a couple of rows and extra pay. Shocked.