Location Based Entertainment (LBE)

Several of waveI's staff members played lead roles in the design and development of a fully interactive gaming motion base while under contract with Douglas Trumbull's Entertainment Design Workshop (EDW). The LBE concept was sponsored by Hitachi Corporation, with a strategic alliance with Imax Corporation for marketing.

EDW produced the first content, Contraptions!, an interactive game that takes place in the attic of Dr. Ratz. The 6 passengers use track balls and button inputs to both navigate the virtual world and aim/shoot targets that trigger Rube Goldbergesque machines, thus opening pathways to continue the journey.

The motion base is programmed to move in accordance with a scripted path in the virtual world, but also includes dynamic inputs controlled by 2 players who try to steer the virtual vehicle around and over obstacles in the scene.

Motion Base Testing using Contraptions! Game Content

Interior of the Hitachi
Ride Platform

 

Theatre Specifications Include:

• 6 seats, each with trackball and input buttons mounted on swing arm restraint system.
• Monolith construction hemispherical high-gain projection screen
• Video - proprietary edge blending using 5 DLP projectors (3840x1024 effective resolution).
• Audio - 16 Speakers and steerable discrete bass system (body sonics)
• All cabin illumination using led spots and rope led safety lighting.

Exterior of the Hitachi
Ride Platform

 

Capsule Design:

• Monocoque sandwich design using carbon fiber prepeg and foam core
• Immobile projector shelf with 5 bay aluminum rig
• Automated ingress/egress doors powered by pneumatic system
• Cabin ventilation driven by projector bay exhaust fans (Top-Rear)
• An all electrical 4-DOF motion base with 3 actuators controlling pitch and roll and 1 actuator controlling the surge axis

Side View of the Hitachi
Ride Platform