Virtual reality (VR) has always managed to offer a new way for in-person entertainment locations like theme parks to engage with their guests, whether that’s a brand new experience or reenvisioning a preexisting attraction. This week the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah, has announced that next spring it’ll open a new VR edutainment attraction.
Being built by Red Raion (Aztec VR and Dystopia VR), a specialist in media-based attractions, the VR experience will be part of the Ecosystem Exploration Craft & Observatory (EECO), a huge 16-stories tall structure it was originally the stage for U2’s 360° tour and now serves as a permanent art installation at the aquarium.
Red Raion’s VR experience will be housed in a 64-seat VR cinema that will rise in the round area underneath EECO. It’ll consist of two movies mixing VR and live-action, taking guests on a journey across different times, places, and dimensions to learn about diverse ecosystems.
“It is an immense honour for us to have been chosen by Loveland Living Planet to produce this amazing VR experience”, declared Valeria Rizzo, Business Development Director at Red Raion in a statement. “It’s a very ambitious project that will put together live-action and VR, an unprecedented combination that is going to make this experience as immersive, fun, and captivating as possible.”
“This will be an exciting way to teach people about our planet and how everything is interconnected. Using this kind of technology is exciting because we’ll never run out of places to explore,” adds Aquarium Founder and CEO Brent Andersen.
Not much more is known about the VR experience other than it’ll be available in Spring 2022. For all the latest on location-based entertainment (LBE) don’t forget to read VRFocus’ The Virtual Arena.