The Festival of Innovation took place online from 6 – 8 December looking at trends and the future of the visitor attractions industry. During the virtual event, the winners of this year’s blooloop Innovation Awards were also announced.
The awards are run in partnership with AREA15, the world’s first purpose-built experiential entertainment district in Las Vegas.
Innovative projects across 16 categories
We had 160 entries over 16 categories this year. These were judged by our panel of industry experts from leading organisations such as Merlin Entertainments, Lionsgate, Paramount, Waterbom Bali, Miral, Walt Disney Imagineering, San Antonio Zoo, British Museum, Field Museum and more.
First, second and third place in the 16 Innovation Awards categories for 2023 are as follows.
Blue Sky, sponsored by Assetnest
This category invited entrants to put forward a truly out-of-the-box concept that has yet to be fully developed, or a one-of-a-kind experience.
The winner of the Blue Sky category is Eatrenalin, a media-based multisensory restaurant at Germany’s Europa-Park, which immerses guests in a unique world through scents, tastes, visuals, acoustics and haptics.
Second place goes to FXMOTION by Luminous Show Technology, an interactive show control system designed to anonymously read guests’ movements, gestures, poses and positions, without wearables. Third place is awarded to Disney Weather Check from Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, which provides Walt Disney World decision-makers, operators, employees, and visitors with real-time weather information.
Brand Realisation
In the category of Brand Realisation, celebrating creative interpretation of brands, the winner is Peaky Blinders: The Rise from The Everywhere Group. This invites guests to step back in time and inside the world of TV’s most notorious gangsters for a fun-packed evening of high-stakes drama, live music and thrilling possibilities.
Second place is Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter: Retail and Restaurants from Lumsden. The retail and restaurant spaces at the newly opened attraction in Tokyo, Japan, have been master planned and designed with theming, sculptures and props to continue the Studio Tour journey.
Meanwhile, third place goes to Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter from Thinkwell (a TAIT Company). Here, guests are transported into the Wizarding World through interactive and immersive exhibits.
Creative Technology
This category celebrates the technology that supports visitor experiences behind the scenes, and the creatives who design them, including elements like projectors, sound systems, lighting and more.
The winner is SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi – One Ocean Hub from Thinkwell (a TAIT Company). The One Ocean Hub features an unprecedented visual experience on the world’s largest cylindrical 360-degree LED screen.
Second place is awarded to Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT. Located at the Sphere in Las Vegas, this is the world’s largest concert-grade audio system creating an unparalleled listening experience for 20,000 people.
Third place, “Draw Me the Planet” – the world’s first watershow with AI-generated content from Crystal, was a groundbreaking spectacle at the iconic Swan Lake in Metz, France, featuring aquatic choreography, immersive image projections on water screens, dynamic lighting effects, and a meticulously crafted audio score.
Exhibit
The Exhibit category honours exhibitions in museums, zoos or aquariums that have been designed to engage and immerse visitors in new ways.
First place goes to Planet Word: The World’s First Voice-Activated Museum of Language from Solomon Group and Local Projects, located in Washington, D.C. Planet Word is the world’s first voice-activated museum of language.
Second place is awarded to The Titanic Experience Reimagined at Titanic Belfast, which saw four innovative new galleries being added to the museum. Third place goes to Dream Tapestry at The Dalí Museum. ‘Dream Tapestry’ is a first-of-its-kind interactive experience that allows visitors to turn their dreams into artistic visions. In collaboration with OpenAI, the institution brought the AI technology DALL·E to The Dalí as the first interactive use of this tech in a museum.
Experiential Technology, sponsored by Alterface
Guest-facing technology that creates new interactive and engaging experiences was the focus of this category.
In first place is Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter from Thinkwell (a TAIT Company), and second place was awarded to Planet Word: The World’s First Voice-Activated Museum of Language from Solomon Group and Local Projects.
Third place goes to Chaos Karts, which bridges the gap between traditional Go-Karting and video games by incorporating state-of-the-art technology.
Game On
The Game On category invited entrants to submit the latest tech and inventive devices in immersive gaming for climbing walls, competitive socialising, VR games and more.
The first-place winner is Chaos Karts. Second place goes to ValoArena from Valo Motion, the world’s first unattended, 6-player mixed-reality arena, while third place is awarded to Launch Control from Merlin Magic Making. This brings the guest’s brick-built LEGO model designs to life digitally, adding multiple layers of play to the LEGO Brick Build Experience.
Guest Journey, sponsored by Convious
In the Guest Journey category, judges were looking for digital technology and beyond that enhances the guest journey, including ticketing, apps, purchases, photography, AR, AI, social and more
The winner is VUIX AI, a groundbreaking visitor user interface experience designed for operators of attractions, destinations, leisure, cultural and hospitality properties.
In second place is Illumix: Digital physical theme park experiences from Illumix, offering infrastructure for immersive, AR experiences that bring a theme park’s environment to life. Third place goes to SEASCAN by SEALIFE. The SEASCAN App is the first educational, gaming, and real-time recognition of marine species in the world.
Immersive Attraction, sponsored by Valtech
Entries in this category included a range of interactive experiences, from dark rides to stand-alone attractions with an innovative use of technology.
First place goes to Hypersphere 360 / Dome Ride Theater from Attraktion! This Dome Ride Theatre with 17 million pixels and 2x 6K LED Technology is designed to provide an immersive ride experience.
In second place is EtherQuest: Katmandu Park | Punta Cana from Falcons Beyond, an interactive walking dark ride at the Caribbean’s first world-class theme park, while third place was awarded to Immersive Gamebox, a unique gaming environment that combines projection mapping, sensors, touch screens, and surround sound.
Immersive Experience
This category celebrates spaces that immerse visitors into another world – from artainment to live-action theatre and everything in between.
First place goes to The Real Unreal, Meow Wolf‘s newest location in Texas. This 29,000 sf exhibition in a former Bed, Bath, & Beyond, features 70 immersive rooms created by Meow Wolf’s 150 staff artists, and 40 Texas collaborators, bringing art, magic, and community to the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs.
Second place goes to Peaky Blinders: The Rise from The Everywhere Group, and third place is Dreamachine from Collective Act, a scientific study and an immersive experience, designed to take audiences on a magical journey into their own minds.
Inclusion
For the category of Inclusion, entrants needed to put forward projects and designs that ensure everyone can enjoy the visitor experience. First place goes to Meow Wolf’s The Real Unreal.
In second place is SeaTREK Helmet Diving from Sub Sea Systems Inc. The SeaTREK experience takes participants on a guided underwater walk in the ENDLESS OCEAN realm with more than 68,000 marine animals. The third place entry, The Cove at the National Maritime Museum from CAP.Co is a new outdoor play experience with 85% of the finished play accessible to wheelchair users and more to those with additional needs.
Spectacular
For this category, judges wanted to see epic shows and spectacular productions – drones, fountain shows, pavilions, acrobatics and anything with the wow factor.
First place goes to Believe! Sea of Dreams from Disney Live Entertainment and Oriental Land Company, a cutting-edge nighttime spectacular using the latest in video, effects, fountain, pyrotechnic and lighting technology.
Second place is awarded to the WhaleShark Icon from Balich Wonder Studio, an elegant 20-ton steel artwork hanging 130 feet above the ground between the Lusail Towers in Doha, while third place goes to The Bastille Day Fireworks at Disneyland Paris, which combined pyrotechnics, lights and drone choreography.
Splash
The first-place winner for this category, which invited entrants that make a splash across the attractions industry, from water rides to fountains to aquariums, was Infinity Master Blaster from WhiteWater. This is a thrilling water slide product that brings the roller coaster experience of a theme park into a water park.
Second place goes to XSlide – first Waterslide with a crossing from Wiegand.Waterrides GmbH, and third place is WSC – The Coating That Makes Waterslides More Slippery from porviva GmbH.
Storytelling, sponsored by Art Processors
This category explored the translation of a story into an engaging visitor experience, from theme parks to exhibitions.
The first-place winner is Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure at Disneyland Paris Resort, which invites guests to embark on a journey and experience how music and friendship bring people together.
Second place is The Loch Ness Centre from Form Atlarge Ltd, which tells the complex and intersecting stories of sightings, expeditions, beliefs, science, hoaxes and the media phenomenon. Third place is awarded to Gorilla Trek Virtual Reality Experience from Immotion, a VR experience that shines a light on the plight of the nearly extinct mountain gorillas of Rwanda in Central Africa.
Sustainability
Judges considered a range of products and projects designed to reduce an attraction’s environmental impact.
First place is taken by Treetop Trail at the Minnesota Zoo. The 1.25-mile Treetop Trail is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian loop, 32 feet above the ground with a view of forest, wetlands, wildlife and the zoo. This was a reuse project for the zoos’ 1970s-era monorail.
Second place is WSC – The Coating That Makes Waterslides More Slippery from porviva GmbH. Third place goes to Culture Over Carbon: Understanding the Impact of Museums’ Energy Use from Environment & Culture Partners, New Buildings Institute, and New England Museum Association. This is the United States’ cultural sector’s first in-depth energy use analysis and the first estimate of the sector’s energy impacts on climate.
Themed Environment
The Themed Environment category looks at the design and theming of spaces and places to immerse visitors in another world
First place is awarded to “Aura: The Forest at the Edge of the Sky” Atrium Installation, Haikou International Duty-Free Shopping Complex from Wētā Workshop LTD. This brings together sculpture, interactivity, light, music and film to transform the atrium into immersive theatre.
Second place is the new SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, while third place goes to Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter: Retail and Restaurants from Lumsden.
Thrills
Finally, in this category, entrants were invited to submit the most thrilling experiences from across the attractions industry.
First place goes to Mission Ferrari at Ferrari World Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, the “world’s most immersive mega-coaster”, which is enhanced by cutting-edge technology and AV effects.
Second place is Beat the Storm from Storm Adventures LLC, an attraction that allows guests to explore extreme wind speeds of up to 100 mph, for a real storm experience. Third place is awarded to Bolt – the world’s first roller coaster on a cruise ship from Maurer Rides. This fast coaster ride offers drops, dips and curves on the top deck of a luxury liner.
The public vote and best in show
During the Festival of Innovation, attendees could view all of the award entries and vote for their favourite.
The winner of the Public Vote was “Draw Me The Planet” by Crystal with its innovative use of AI to create a water show in France. Meanwhile, Europa-Park’s Eatrenalin won Best in Show.
Blooloop would like to thank all of the sponsors, AREA15, Alterface, Art Processors, Assetnest, Convious and Valtech for their support, and congratulate this year’s winners and runners-up.
Attendees of the Festival of Innovation can watch all of the sessions on demand for 30 days. Our Innovation Award website is now live to view all of the entries.
