The Fun of Learning - Trans-Force

The Fun of Learning

Friday, 28 May 2010 14:10

Trans-Force The marriage of entertainment and education has been given the general term “Edutainment” – but has had to fight to prove its value in a sector that is incredibly reticent to embrace anything that they see as dumbing down or trivializing the process of learning.

In out-of-home, the international “Edutainment” sector covers one of the widest ranges of facilities, from museums, galleries, historic sites, heritage visitor attractions, libraries and zoos to planetariums, science centers and educational facilities. This extensive market also includes cultural governmental organizations and associations, partly in support of the individual, disparate, groups and partly in ensuring the historical and cultural value of the venues for local government and country. read more

Into this diverse sector (with its complicated funding structure), the experience and technology of the amusement and attractions sector has begun to be applied; a sector that brings knowledge of imparting a message in an entertaining and memorable manner – and able most importantly to generate revenue. Even before the current financial conditions, the museum and science center market had started to consider embracing elements of the entertainment scene to encourage repeat visitation and revenue creation. A need not only to pay for their keep but in order to compete in an environment ever more crowded with growing competition to the core audience.

Attractions for Museums

Hoping to transplant an amusement attraction into an educational environment is impossible, but the development of embracing elements of established audience systems for application in this unique environment have been ongoing for years.

Showscan Entertainment, Doron Precision Systems and Simworx motion theatre simulators have been successfully installed in museums since the 1980s – famous installations include one at the prestigious London Science Museum, and it is a testament to their value and reliability that they are still in operation to this day. It is a marriage of a strong educational message and reliable attraction-quality hardware.

The popularity of 3D films with an educational foundation has been championed with content from companies such as 3DBA / nWave Pictures – with “SOS Planet,” a digital effects film produced in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature – The Netherlands (WWF); or “African Adventure 3D: Safari in the Okavango” – in partnership with a renown South African zoologist who created a thrilling adventure in the flooded desert. These and other large format and attraction films, from a growing number of producers, offer the educational values suitable for education application.

With new technology, the element of the theatre and capsule motion 3D experiences is now evolving from the passive film toward the new opportunity of interactive content within the educational environment.

One of the pioneers of the informative interactive entertainment experience is Environmental Tectonics Corporation’s (ETC), and their division The Ride Works. The company is famous for their attraction “Wild Earth: Safari,” which allows riders to drive around the African Serengeti searching for wildlife, snapping photos of animals while learning about the environment. Motion is supplied by the “XSpeed” motion platform. An innovative application of the interactive attraction was launched at Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia Zoo in 2005.

Building on the success of the driving experience, ETC launched “Wild Earth: Deep Ocean Safari,” a marine application to explore and record interactive narrative. First launched at McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Ala., the experience allows multiple riders to participate in the submariner experience. One aspect of employing successful and popular experiences to the educational scene is working with respected experts in their fields to help shape the games to offer the best mix of fun and information.

The interactivity offers a greater level of experience that builds on the learning experience. A simulator attraction finding museum application is from MaxFlight Corporation and their “FS2000,” a two-seat flight simulator that allows the guests to immerse themselves within an exhilarating experience. The company installed an interactive fighter plane simulation area at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo Museum – proving not only a strong draw, but also a repeat draw.

The flying simulation experience has been joined by the racing game. European developer Cruden Racing Simulation has released the latest version of their “Hexatech” full motion simulator. This full-motion race simulator is one of the most realistic simulators of its kind – offering the ability for an audience to gain a perception of the high-speed/high-g exhilaration. The company has to date installed their product in France at the i-Way facility and in the Mall of the Emirates – Magic Planet. But the system is also being eyed for museum application such as the highly themed Ferrari World venue.

Beyond the race track – simulation of more than one rider at a time is essential for the large audiences attracted to museum and heritage environments. Simulation is used as a large audience accommodator, and now with the new systems, audiences can also be accommodated in interactive experiences. One of these new systems is from Russia-based Trans-Force. The company’s “5D Interactive Attraction” offers a unique multi-dimension environment with 3D visuals on an immersive curved screen. Each rider inside the motion capsule is able to use their joystick to steer and shoot within the game.

For Trans-Force, the game experiences offer a compelling mixture of educational value and pure high-paced game play. An example of the mixing of educational narrative with interactive entertainment has been seen with the company’s space mission diversion. While exploring the moon, the players also defend themselves from the hazards of space travel, and build scores.