THE CHALLENGE
This week, contestants must converse to create a single new ride for the Universal Studios Florida park.
The World Expo area in the park opened as a fantastic homage to classic world's fairs (esp. 1964-65) with an international/interstellar quest to defeat aliens at a fair training seminar and a journey back in time when a future technologies demonstration goes awry. Soon a show opened displaying brave feats.
Eventually, time travel was replaced with a great Simpsons ride and an overarching theme was absolutely lost when the International Food place was recently demolished (creating a new land/Springfield). Your task this week is to create a new attraction for the World Expo, replacing Fear Factor Live! and creating a realistic, World's Fair environment. You may use three images in your proposal, if needed. Good Luck!
The Olympics celebrates human ability, international peace, and the sharing of culture. What better way to refresh the international experience at Universal Studios!
Guests will approach a pavilion with the appearance of a modern Olympic Stadium. “Street Vendors” outside will sell samplings of international food and wares, all with an International Olympic theme.
Whilst in the queue, guests will learn the history of the Olympics with a mix of static exhibits (replica torches, video displays, etc) and interactive games.
As they approach the final boarding queue, they will be taken through a pre-show that acts as the Opening Games and allows them (and their competing team) to choose their “events”.
The ride vehicle itself will be a kuka style system on a track with 3 seats per "side" and "4D" effects in the ride sections. The track will be able to take different routes depending on the events chosen by the participants.
Some events will involve the audience using a joystick on the ride vehicle to "aim" or "direct" the motion (within reasonable levels), or to perform actions (swinging feet, moving arms, etc) to simulate actions in the sport. Other events (like equestrian) will merely involve them pushing a button at the "right" time to synchronize with the video and "participate in the event".
All of these action will be built together to make a scoring mechanism which we can use for the medal ceremony / placements.
Event Descriptions
Archery
Archery, the sport of kings. The ride vehicle will start with a short video about nocking the arrow, as a loose breeze sway past the riders faces and the smell of grass is wafted into the arena. The rider will then “become” the arrow, being pulled back and launched. During the flight, the interactive joystick will offer the rider the ability to “guide” the arrow towards the bulls eye.
At the end of the flight experience, the riders will be subjected to a thud, along with feedback from the ride system to make them feel the impact.
Boxing
Boxing has a history going back through history. A challenge of strength and endourance. Riders will first experience an “up” and “down” motion as they are read the rules by the ref and shake hands with their opponent.
The match begins with the riders being asked to wave their arms to land blows. IR sensors in the ride itself will sense their motions and decide upon one of three moves. Uppercut, block and jab.
If knocked out, the riders will face a spiral effect through the vehicle. If not, they will be risen up and taken to the next event. This event will only happen in between other events, as it has no memorable finale.
Football (Soccer)
The rider will start with a penalty kick, which is then chested and returned by a competing player. One team will play the goalie, and will be asked to wave their arms to block a goal. Airjets will be used to provide tactile feedback to the guests hands as they wave them to block the oncoming goal.
The opposing team will be asked to kick, and an algorithm along with sensors will detect the general angle of their legs.
Rowing
Rowing is a sport that goes back to the times of Ancient Egypt. Two or more boats race to the finish line, each propelled by nothing more than the physical force provided by the athletes.
In the ride version of the event, the guest's arm movements are tracked. The faster they move their arms back and forth in a specific direction, the faster the oars will move. To steer, all they have to do is move one arm faster than another.
The "boat" that completely crosses the finish line first wins gold!
Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball is unmistakably one of the most popular sports at any given Summer Olympics. Now, visitors to the park have the opportunity to get out on the sand themselves!
The guests will be able to control their experience using two ways: With a joystick to change their position on the court, and with their arm motions to "hit" the ball. When the riders move their arms to serve or return a ball, they will feel a sharp gust of air that feels as if the ball actually struck their hands.
Each game follows the Olympic rules for beach volleyball. Instead of playing to 21, the game will end at 7 points so the ride doesn't take too long.
Speed Skating
A number of factors will determine how fast the skaters go in this event. When the riders first enter, they are asked to move their legs in long gliding motions and follow through with their arms. The ride will automatically turn for them, to minimize complexity. The guest's hand and feet motions will be tracked and a computer algorithm will combine the two and decide the speed. Also, the skaters will start to "tire out" by the end, so the guests must work even harder to produce the right motions to go fast.
Ski Jumping
In ski jumping, there are two scored elements. The athletes must land as far as they can down the hill, and they also must do tricks in the air.
Even though ski jumpers don't use poles, the rider's speed will come from moving their arms back and forth as if using ski poles. The faster the arm motion, the longer distance the jump will cover.
In the air, tricks and turns can be controlled by the joystick. Within reason, the computer will translate these signals onto the screen.
Diving/Synchronized Swimming/Swimming
Swimming has been one of the sports that are usually associated with the Olympics. First, guests will experience diving. The guests will feel the spring on the board, going up and down, and will experience the feeling of falling when diving. The ride vehicle will spit out water to correspond with the splash in the water.
When the guests rise up from the water, they are now in Synchronized Swimming. Guests will then need to move their hands in a swimming motion to keep in sync with the swimmers, going left, right, up, and down. The swimmers all take a bow, including the ride vehicle.
There camera soon turns to the diving board. You hear a buzzer go off and the race begins. Players compete against each other, moving their hands foreword in a swimming motion, as fast as they can to reach the other side of the pool, the first player back wins.
Table Tennis
Table Tennis, also known as Ping Pong, is one of those unusual sports at the Olympics. The ride vehicle will start explaining the rules. First. the team will use a joystick to use the paddle to hit the ball. Then, with the help of motion sensors, use their body to "guide" the ping pong ball, with the whole vehicle being able to feel the ball going up and down. While feeling the motion of the ball going forward, the team will also feel air pumped through the vehicle, making it seem that they're going faster than they really are.
The same will be going on with the opposing team when they hit the ball. They will become the ball, while the other team tries to hit the ball.When the ball bounces off the table, the other team feels a huge drop, like they're "falling off the table". The whole process goes on until round 10, and the winner is then decided.
Upon completion of the ride, scores will be tallied. Guests will then be allowed to purchase on ride pictures from different rides, and even real medals to commemorate their “Olympic Experience”.
The second part of the gift shop will be themed as a small “Olympic Village”. Half winter, half summer, this shop will offer a variety of Olympic and sports themed merchandise.
The whole experience should attract fans and sports fanatics alike!
