Simulator rides are a type of

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

ground ride, where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen. There are many types but they fall into the heading of entertainment unlike the ones used for training. Simulator rides work by showing a film and moving at the same time. This information is fixed and cannot be changed without rewriting the ride's firmware.

History

Until recently, constructing

simulator A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

rides was an expensive,

high tech High technology (high tech or high-tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the state of the art, cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the ...

business. The first simulators were built to train

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

pilots. Long before the days of virtual reality, the view through the cockpit came from remote video cameras which moved on gantries above physical

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s. These model landscapes were huge, often the size of aircraft

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s. By the mid-1990s, computer

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

replaced most physical models in simulators. Today's flight training simulators, like

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

’s, have virtual landscapes projected on multiple screens giving a 180 degree view. Much simpler simulators, running fixed video synchronized to the movement of the ' cabin', were introduced in funfairs in the same period. They seat about 12 people and require an operator. Doron Precision Systems is a company who specializes in driving simulators based in Binghamton, NY. They were the first manufacturer to introduce the capsule motion simulator, the SR2 in 1977. Other manufacturers such as Thomson (Now Thales Training & Simulation),

Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing Amusement ride, thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other e ...

, Pulseworks, etc. also came up with their own simulators.

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

originally invented the motion theater with their attraction The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

uses a similar plan and opened their Star Tours attraction in 1987. Universal's attraction did not open until 1990. This first ride was soon followed by the

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

-themed Back to the Future: The Ride, which opened in 1991 at Universal Studios Florida and was removed in 2007 to make way for The Simpsons Ride.

Motion theaters

Passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

motion simulators are used as amusement rides with a seating platform remaining parallel to the ground while being moved in a circular motion along a vertical plane. Larger scale motion theaters include "Air Time" at Carowinds, "Corkscrew Hill" at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and the now closed Akbar's Adventure Tours in Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Motion theaters found in a

traveling carnival A traveling carnival (American English), usually simply called a carnival, travelling funfair or travelling show (British English), is an amusement show that may be made up of List of amusement rides, amusement rides, food vendors, merchandi ...

include the "Yellow Submarine."

Personal simulator rides

More recently, one- to two-person simulator rides have appeared. These run unattended and some types are

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

, like the original

flight training simulators. Unlike the military, however, most civilian simulators are totally passive and have a choice of rides from which the user selects. The most advanced simulators are in totally enclosed capsules giving a much more immersive ride and allowing the person to be fully engaged in the simulation. The more recent two seaters, produced in 2005, have special effects added. These include fans which blast wind on the rider's face as the simulation goes faster, and heaters which heat the cabin when there is a virtual explosion or fire or a similar heat source is displayed on screen. Other effects include vibrations which add to the ride's realism. Due to the exclusivity of this type of simulator ride, there are only a few two seater simulator manufacturers in the world. The first truly low-cost simulator is perhaps the £5k "Kidicoaster," which swings up and down in sync to a video of a

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

. It is now practical for amateur enthusiasts to develop their own 'low tech' simulator ride. The motion and effects can be controlled by a micro controller (like a Stamp or an

Arduino Arduino () is an Italian open-source hardware and open-source software, software company, project, and user community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and microcontroller kits for building digital devices. Its hardwar ...

) and the video played on an ordinary DVD player. The micro controller only has to switch the play button on the player and the video and motion will then stay adequately in synch for the duration of the ride.

4DX

Since first developed in 2009, 4DX movie theaters have been growing in popularity. These theaters show mainstream Hollywood films combined with moving seats and other special effects to enhance the experience of the film.

Installations

Finished Installations

*1977 - Doron SR2 simulator ride (Installed Worldwide). *1977 - Astroliner (Installed Worldwide) *1985 - Tour of the Universe *1987 - Star Tours *1989 - Body Wars *1990 - Questor *1990 - The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera *1991 - Back to the Future: The Ride *1991 - Cinaxe *1992 - Batman Adventure – The Ride *1992 - Mission: Bermuda Triangle *1993 - In Search Of The Obelisk *1994 - New York Skyride *1994 - Paramount Action FX Theater *1994 -

Space Shuttle America ''Space Shuttle America'' (also known as ''Space Shuttle America – The Next Century'') was a motion simulator ride at the Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee, Illinois, that opened in 1994. The ride's main feature was a full-scale rep ...

*1995 - Wild Arctic *1996 - King Arthur's Challenge *1996 - Manhattan Magic - World Trade Center (Top of the World) *1998 - Akbar's Adventure Tours *1998 - Klingon Encounter at Star Trek: The Experience *1999 - The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man *2000 - Gundam the Ride: A Baoa Qu *2001 - Batman Adventure – The Ride 2 *2001 - Corkscrew Hill *2001 -

Soarin' Over California ''Soarin, also known as ''Soarin' Over California'', ''Soarin' Around the World'', ''Soaring Over the Horizon'' and ''Soaring: Fantastic Flight'', is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyla ...

*2001 - StormRider *2002 - MaxFlight - Virtual Rollercoaster *2003 - Mission: SPACE *2003 - Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast *2005 - Curse of DarKastle *2008 - The Simpsons Ride *2008 - Fly Me to the Moon *2010 - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey *2010 - Europe in the Air *2011 - Rocket Ship Theatre *2011 - Meteor Attack *2011 - Transformers: The Ride *2011 - Star Tours: The Adventures Continue *2012 - Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem *2014 - Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts *2014 - Marvel Experience *2015 - Justice League: Battle for Metropolis *2016 - Iron Man Experience *2017 - Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon *2017 - Nemo & Friends SeaRider *2017 - Avatar Flight of Passage *2018 - Battle for Eire *2018 - DreamWorks Theatre *2019 - Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run *2019 - Sky Voyager

References

External links

* {{Amusement rides Simulation video games