The next time you’re being strapped into a roller coaster, you may also have a Samsung Gear VR strapped to your face for a radically different 360-degree virtual reality experience.
That’s the ambitious plan behind Six Flags’ Virtual Reality Roller Coaster, thanks to a newly announced partnership between the theme park and the maker of Samsung Galaxy S7.
Nine of its roller coasters are being outfitted with VR headsets, including parks in Los Angeles, New York and Texas, on rides like New Revolution, Dare Devil Dive and Shock Wave.
Season Pass holders will be able to take advantage of the fully immersive roller coaster ride first through a special peak starting as early as March 10 in Arlington, Texas.
What’s it going to be like?
Six of the Six Flags coasters depict a futuristic aerial battle against an alien invasion. Riders act as the co-pilot and endure swan dives and thrusters with every drop and loop.
YouTube : https://youtu.be/lLesoJYmJPY
Even better, they can fire weapons with the VR headset, which technically makes this the first-ever interactive gameplay technology on a roller coaster.
Three of Six Flags’ Superman roller coaster rides virtually transport riders to the comic book world of Metropolis and the Man of Steel soars through the air in an effort to battle Lex Luthor.
It won’t get you sick
Some people get sick using VR headsets. Others get sick on roller coasters. Six Flags claims that its virtual reality roller coasters won’t be a puke-inducing combination of the two.
The 360-degree visuals are finely tuned so that everything you see is synced precisely with the coaster’s drops, twists and turns, according to the theme park company.
“There is no motion sickness as some might expect,” proclaims Six Flags on its official website. “Unlike watching the visuals while standing still, there should be no adverse effect.”
It won’t allow children under 12 to wear the headset due to the manufacturer’s guidelines, and wearing a Samsung Gear VR is not a requirement of any VR-enhanced roller coaster.
Six Flags has tweaked the Samsung Gear VR headset to – very wisely – add a chinstrap and a lanyard, just in case the existing straps straps over and around your head aren’t enough.
Source: Tech Radar
read more…Riding a roller coaster just got a whole lot more real with virtual reality