Futuroscope
Though I’m a big fan of themed ride experiences and am working in media innovation, I never visited the Futuroscope park of Poitiers. It’s a little more than an hour away from Paris by TGV, so I decided to address this gap during my previous trip to the French capital. What makes the park unique is in my opinion the mix between new technologies and the French cultural exception. Let me explain why.
Futuroscope is the second biggest theme park in France, after Disneyland Paris resort. It is radically different from other theme parks as it focuses mainly on simulators and audio-visual experiences. The look of the park is also unique with its futuristic buildings from Denis Laming.
Futurist
augmented reality
The park doesn’t have the budget of Universal Studios or DisneyWorld and I was surely not expecting to see the best rides on earth. The Futuroscope is more a place of innovative experiments, on a small budget. There, you can test rides which will probably become available on a bigger scale in major theme parks. For example, the Dances with Robots manufactured by Kuka gives a first idea of the sensations one might expect from the Wizarding world of Harry Potter ride due in 2010. Another example is the Future is Wild developed by Future immersion, which will surely inspire new rides with its smart use of real settings, augmented reality and interactivity.
But beyond those technical innovations, the Futuroscope also incarnates the French cultural exception. The movies such as Dynamic Vienne, the Wings of Courage or Destination Cosmos are combining high technology for mass consumption with a real French personal touch. The narrations are more elaborated and less gimmicky than what you could see in a typical theme park. They genuinely put more emphasis on the education and sensitivity, but still manage to be enough entertaining for everyone.
Dynamic Vienne by Olivier Chavarot is a simulator not using the usual digital images but instead old fashion acrobatic stunts. The movie is a little old, 1993, but is still one of the best simulator movie I have ever seen. Car racing is a great way to get thrilled and this movie masters the genre.
The wings of Courage by Jean-Jacques Annaud is a 3D movie with, exceptional fact, a real story. It attempts to go further than giving you a blast. The 3D makes everything look more real and the story feels much closer to you.
Destination cosmos in the planetarium does also go beyond showing the public a series of spectacular blowing pictures. It takes the time to drive the audience to a much more thrilling sense, the infinity of the universe. It is in fact a US movie and is called Passport to the universe (music from Stephen Endelman). It is usually played in museums and I found some bad reviews on the Internet saying it is too slow. Culture is not only about production but also about perspective and selection. It is in that sense that playing a show like this in the Futuroscope adds to its French particularity.
Sculptures
On the down side, the futuristic lay out of the park makes it a little cold and monotonous. The sculptures from Toutain help to make it a little bit warmer on that respect. I was there at the autumn season and they could have also better adapted the park to a low attendance (by for example focusing on one lively area instead of letting the public spread all over the place at night, with most of the shops / restaurants closed).
Christophe Bruchansky
