It seems rather dangerous to combine theme park rides with virtual reality technology. Albeit this can offer a brand new experience, it seems clunky to don a VR headset in this regard. Germany’s Therme Erding water park is now taking a similar approach. its customers can wear a VR headset while going down their water slides.
Virtual Reality in a Water Park
When visiting a water park, there is usually no time to appreciate one’s surroundings. That can be a bit of hit-and-miss, as most of these parks are located in beautiful scenery. To give users a different type of immersion, the use of virtual reality technology appears to be the next logical step for Germany’s Therme Erding water park. It is one of the first water parks to officially incorporate VR into its water slides.
Because of this radical approach, users will be wearing a small VR headset as they go down the slides. This sounds very dangerous on paper, although it seems most visitors enjoy this experience as of right now. It can offer them a very different view, ranging from snowy mountains to outer space and everything in between. Not what one would expect from a water park, but the concept seems to have a lot of merit regardless.
It is not the first time a theme park incorporates virtual reality technology either. Numerous parks around the world are exploring options in this regard. They all aim to make their existing rides a lot more attractive, even though not every concept lends itself to virtual reality. How the combination of water slides and VR will pan out, remains to be determined at this stage. It is still an experimental project first and foremost.
One interesting note is how the VR headset is completely waterproof. It appears to accommodate mobile phones, which means users should have an easy time accessing this radical technology. How it enhances the overall water slide experience, will differ on an individual basis first and foremost. The thrill of sliding down a slide while surrounded by outer space sounds thrilling, although not everyone will appreciate something like that either.
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