StrayLight Corp. has recently delivered a brand new, break-through technology for corporate promotions, a transportable Wide-Screen 3-D Virtual Theater. Custom-designed for Royal Caribbean’s mobile promotion, StrayLight installed a 30 seat, multi-sensory theater inside an expandable tractor-trailer. With a gigantic wrap-around 20-foot wide stereoscopic screen, StrayLight’s 3-D animated production completely immerses its guests in the story, giving the feeling of ‘really’ being on board the largest cruise ship in the world, Voyager of the Seas.
StrayLight designed and developed the proprietary hardware system and also created the dramatic computer-generated 3-D content, which is a sneak preview of Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Voyager of the Seas. The Theater’s expansive screen engulfs its audience, thus emphasizing the grandeur of the ship. In addition, StrayLight’s animation tours guests through the Voyager’s amazing amenities, which include an ice skating rink, a rock climbing wall, a basketball court, a golf course and four-deck tall royal shopping promenade.
With beautiful special effects, StrayLight included graceful dolphins swimming along side the majestic Voyager of the Seas. As an expert in producing high-quality stereoscopic POV (point-of-view) content, StrayLight delivers very compelling and realistic virtual experiences. The animated graphics literally ‘pop-off’ of the screen, while guests wear special glasses to experience the ‘in-your-face’ stereoscopic 3-D effects. To add to the realism, StrayLight’s multi-sensorial theater experience includes sight, sound, smell and touch, with 3-D graphics, a vigorous sound track, tropical smells, and cool ocean breezes.
The audience’s reaction to Virtual Voyager has been overwhelmingly positive, and has surprised even Royal Caribbean; their on-site cruise bookings have significantly surpassed their program goals after only the first few events. One guest told staff members: “We were so excited from the movie, that we booked our vacation today!” An industry representative exclaimed, “Not only will I sell consumers rooms on this ship…but I want to go on it!”
GMR Marketing, Milwaukee, WI, developed the concept of touring a virtual cruise ship, when faced with the marketing challenge of how to ‘sample’ a cruise experience, especially when the cruise ship is still being built in Europe and when many of the promotion’s target markets are land-locked destinations. GMR called upon StrayLight, their long-time Virtual Reality partner, to develop a unique, high-quality virtual hardware and software solution. Thus, StrayLight’s Wide-Screen 3-D Theater became the headlining attraction for the Virtual Voyager, which can be described as a 53-foot mobile museum, complete with the 30 seat Virtual Theater, a scale model of the ship, a wall-size cut-away diagram of the ship, and a plasma screen showcasing the western Caribbean destinations.
StrayLight’s Wide-Screen Virtual Theater is unique and an industry first because it is the only 3-D wide-screen, multi-sensorial theater that is transportable for mobile marketing and trade show events. The Virtual Theater can be assembled in less than one hour, and is an innovative way to introduce new products, increase trade show booth traffic and to increase brand awareness. StrayLight’s theater design is affordable and accessible (in size and layout) to exhibit managers and special event promoters. The theater configuration can be customized for maximum audience throughput; with 30 seats in only a 20x20 foot area, Royal Caribbean’s installation allows for over 350 people per hour to experience the Virtual Voyager.
StrayLight has experience designing Virtual Theaters systems inside unique traveling vehicles. For Hennessy Cognac, StrayLight installed a 12 seat helmet-based theater with shaker seats inside a double-decker bus for a cognac sampling tour across the Far East. The show allowed guests to virtually experience the cognac distilling process and to fly through the vineyards and the lush French countryside. For Kraft Foods and the PGA Tour, StrayLight installed a projected Virtual Theater inside a foldout tractor-trailer. That 3-D experience immerses guests inside a playful animated story, where they become a golf ball hurdling towards a hole-in-one! |
