Date of Award

Spring 5-2013

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Construction

First Advisor

Tulio Sulbaran

Advisor Department

Construction

Abstract

Theme parks continually change to incorporate new technology. Since the development of virtual reality, designers of theme park attractions have utilized several different immersion technology systems. Most of the current attractions are based on the Head-Mounted Display system and the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment system. To date, few studies or papers have been published concerning the effect virtual reality and the accompanying immersion technology may have on theme park attractions. One hundred and seventy-eight attractions from eight theme parks were categorized based on level of immersion and then analyzed for this study. Wait times for these attractions were used to determine the popularity of the attractions. A higher wait time indicated a greater amount of people willing to wait a longer amount of time for the ride. The results were intended to show whether virtual reality had affected the desire a theme park visitor feels towards themed attractions. From the statistical analyses, it was concluded that attractions with virtual content had higher wait times than non-virtual attractions. This study could benefit ride developers and designers as a basis for studies that are more specific or for consideration on the levels of virtual reality immersion in the development of future theme park attractions.

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