Beat the Storm
Beat the Storm is a safe and thrilling attraction where 4 to 80 year-old kids can discover how it is to be in a hurricane.
Agency
Storm Adventures
Practice Area
Client
Universe Science Park
Industry
Beat The Storm can provide experience for up to 360 guests per hour.
1) Gradual increase of wind speed. Wind speed 35% lower at entrance and exit. Every step forward gradually becomes more challenging. 2) High energy-efficiency due to air recirculation technology
Project Overview
Beat the Storm is a completely new and unique attraction. The challenge was to design an attraction with high user engagement letting guests explore the wind independently and at the same time meeting all necessary requirements that are crucial for the Entertainment and Edutainment Industry, such as: high safety, wide target audience, easy onboarding, high throughput capacity, easy operations, high efficiency and low electricity consumption, low maintenance costs, minimal noise emissions, and compliance with sustainability criteria.
We are passionate about contributing to the entertainment industry by creating attraction with additional value. Our vision is to promote curiosity and awareness about natural sciences through immersive experience and gamification.
Beat the Storm lets you discover the phenomena forces of Nature independently. We used to think that we know what wind is, but at high wind speed it feels and acts completely differently. We bring our guests to the point where the fun starts – at the point where you can play with the wind and provide a safe and immersive experience.
The uniqueness of the wind is hidden in the encompassing, powerful and invisible nature of the wind, creating an even more interesting attraction, because you have to rely on your senses and what you feel, not what you see in front of you.
To achieve a design that would aerodynamically sound and energy efficient, several iterations were conducted.
1) Tests with high-speed wind sources with a target audience to observe the behavior and reaction – is it fun, how the experience is perceived, what actions are taken being in the wind, how strong the wind should be, what are the potential safety risks and behavioral risks.
2) 1:1 scale model of the gamification area was created to simulate the user journey and to test dimensions of every element, safety requirements and to understand the potential special effects
3) In total 24 iterations for aerodynamic simulation, to find the most energy efficient and at the same time most silent aerodynamic shape of the attraction.
To ensure unaided and safe experience, safety is the cornerstone of the design.
When you have made friends with the invisible playmate – wind – the mutual trust acknowledgement
is laying in the wind.
Even 90% of small kids rate the experience with the highest mark.
Marked areas helps to orient in wind speed for participants and spectators.
Beat the Storm experience provides awareness of wind as a phenomena of nature. Expand your knowledge of wind in educational zone.
Project Details
Design Team
Ingus Augstkalns (principal in charge), Rihards Dziedatajs (project manager), Liva Kalnina (architectural design), Kristians Rukuc (art director)
Photo Credits
Armands Virbulis (photography, videography)
Open Date
July 2022