Each year, operators in the business of immersive experiences pick up the pace, improving and innovating their offerings – some of them enough to make our top trends report. In 2024, we expect to see more gamified experiences and immersive technologies, as well as blood-curdling and branded location-based entertainment (LBE). Immersive hotels, dining venues and rides will keep coming, and wellness is worth keeping an eye on.
As usual, several of our immersive experience trends for 2024 carry over from last year’s predictions. Keep reading to stay ahead of the game.
1. Big brands
Putting people inside their favourite TV shows remains a top trend to watch in the immersive experience business, as does immersing fans in their favourite brands. Last year, we witnessed the launch of some attractions based on professional football clubs. We also saw the debut of spaces from media companies such as Sony and Netflix to house many of their concepts.
Manchester City and Real Madrid are the football clubs turning to LBE. The former is set to expand the Etihad Stadium with a new fan zone and other year-round experiences. These include F&B outlets, a new club shop, a museum, and a 400-bed hotel. Real Madrid World, part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, will be the world’s first football theme park.
As for Sony and Netflix LBE, Sony’s Wonderverse is a new entertainment destination in the Chicago area. This brings the studio’s movies, TV shows and video games to life. Highlights include Ghostbusters and Jumanji VR experiences, Bad Boys racing simulators, Zombieland-themed bumper cars and Uncharted escape rooms.
TV & video game influences
Netflix is also launching US-based immersive destinations where fans of its original TV shows can shop, eat and play games. “We’ve seen how much fans love to immerse themselves in the world of our movies and TV shows, and we’ve been thinking a lot about how we take that to the next level,” Josh Simon, Netflix’s VP of consumer products, told Bloomberg.
Netflix is already behind LBE experiences themed to Squid Game, Bridgerton, Stranger Things and Money Heist. The company opened a pop-up restaurant in LA last year called Netflix Bites. Here, it served dishes inspired by Netflix food personalities.
In the UK, Peaky Blinders: The Rise from the Everywhere Group puts guests inside the world of the award-winning series for an evening of high-stakes drama and thrills. The live theatrical show even features a new Peaky Blinders storyline created in association with creator Steven Knight. The Rise took first place in the brand realisation category in last year’s blooloop Innovation Awards.
Finally, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter, another Innovation Award winner, has opened in Japan. Through detailed immersive interactives like stepping into a Quidditch game and casting a Patronus, the new tour allows visitors to experience filmmaking magic like never before.
2. Recreational fear
Horror experiences are intrinsically immersive and remain a major trend to watch in the next year. Recreational fear is a term coined by scientists from the Recreational Fear Lab, a research institute at Aarhus University in Denmark. The team partnered with Swedish amusement park Liseberg last year on a fear experiment.
Karl Svedung, head of marketing at Liseberg, said:
“The results of this report show that Liseberg has excellent knowledge in the area of recreational fear. Now we want to use these insights to further develop our fear attractions. One aspect we want to examine is whether we can help visitors to tailor their fear experiences at the park.”
Of course, the biggest news in scary LBE last year was Universal Destinations & Experiences’ new year-round horror attraction at Area15 in Las Vegas. The upcoming venue, called Universal Horror Unleashed, is Universal’s first permanent horror experience outside of its parks.
Bring the fear
In a recent interview with blooloop, Area15 CEO Winston Fisher said the spooky site will be “incredible and standout”. Page Thompson, president of new ventures at Universal Destinations & Experiences, said the decision to launch the attraction is due to a “huge and growing demand for immersive experiences”, particularly horror-themed ones.
John Murdy, creative director and executive producer of Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) at Universal Studios Hollywood, said the immersive trend for horror experiences is “an adrenaline thing”.
He told blooloop: “It’s high thrills. We’ll just stand at the exit of one of our haunted houses and just watch what happens. It’s a great way to experience how your guests are enjoying the experience. You’ll see people come out and they’re screaming and then they immediately start laughing. To me, that’s the classic release of adrenaline.”
3. Immersive rides
Ride experiences are almost always immersive. However, that hasn’t stopped operators and manufacturers from taking their offerings to the next level. For example, Mission Ferrari at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is billed as the world’s most immersive mega-coaster. Part coaster, part dark ride, the 5D multimedia experience is enhanced by cutting-edge technology and AV effects. It claimed the top spot in the Innovation Awards’ thrills category.
Hypersphere 360 at Seaworld Abu Dhabi is a new media-based attraction, invented and patented by Attraktion! and Intamin. The dome theatre ride, a blooloop Innovation Award winner, is described as the world’s most immersive ride experience. At Katmandu Park, EtherQuest is an innovative and interactive dark ride by Falcon’s Beyond Global that keeps guests on their toes, literally and figuratively.
VR ride experiences
Another immersive ride, Beat the Storm, has been created for amusement parks, science centres, and museums. It offers a real-life storm adventure, with guests experiencing extreme wind speeds of up to 100 mph.
Elsewhere, Universal Destinations & Experiences has filed a patent to improve VR rides at its parks by including physical reactions in a virtual world. It describes a technology where riders on an attraction with VR elements can wear a camera facing them (via Orlando Inno). This could detect facial expressions and gestures, generating an avatar with similar facial characteristics and movements to the rider to show to other riders and visitors at Universal Parks.
Universal has also filed a new patent application for technology that could generate realistic images at theme parks using “retroreflection” instead of VR headsets or AR-enabled devices.
4. Art experiences
Immersive art experiences have been a top attractions trend for several years now. Pioneers in the world of artainment include Meow Wolf, teamLab and Grande Experiences. These groups, which create anything from technology-driven artworks to immersive playgrounds, continue to expand their offerings.
Last year, Meow Wolf debuted its fourth permanent exhibition, The Real Unreal, in Texas. The new installation, which claimed two Innovation Awards in December, contains a series of dreamscapes, otherworldly landscapes, surreal environments, and Meow Wolf’s iconic portals.
Artainment
teamLab is taking its concept to Abu Dhabi, while Tokyo’s teamLab Borderless is reopening in a new home at Azabudai Hills next month. “Physical media is no longer the limit,” teamLab told blooloop in an interview. “Digital technology has made it possible for artworks to expand physically. Art created using digital technology can easily expand.”
Grande Experiences recently celebrated the 100th display of Van Gogh Alive. Before that, the company marked the launch of its 250th display. On being a pioneer in the immersive field, CEO Bruce Peterson told blooloop:
“It’s not just about taking paintings and projecting them onto walls. Most of our experiences take over two years to create, because they feature an enormous amount of artwork and music, worked together into a storyline.”
More artainment groups are growing. Wake The Tiger, an experiential art gallery and theme park in the UK, is expanding, as is Mad Arts, a museum for immersive art in South Florida. Arte Museum has opened its first North American exhibition in Las Vegas following locations in Korea and China.
5. Unique hotels
Disney World closed its ambitious Star Wars hotel experience after just 18 months of operating. However, unique and immersive overnight experiences are here to stay. One of the most exciting accommodation developments in 2023 included Shrek’s “mud-laden, moss-covered, murky-watered swamp” popping up on Airbnb.
Elsewhere, Madame Tussauds and Warner. Bros worked with the InterContinental Hotels Group to launch an overnight eerie experience in New York for Halloween. Guests enjoyed drinks and a three-course dinner inspired by The Exorcist, The Conjuring and It before exploring scenes from the horror franchises.
In more hotel news, Las Vegas’ award-winning immersive experience Particle Ink is heading to the Luxor Hotel and Casino this year. The Luxor has also opened a fantastical attraction called Play Playground. The new additions are part of the hotel’s bid to become the Las Vegas Strip’s “most dynamic hub for immersive entertainment and experiences”.
6. Immersive technologies
Technologies like AI, AR, VR, holograms, LED screens, audiovisual (AV) effects and projection mapping are being utilised by owners and operators to create the most immersive and trendy experiences out there. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, for example, is home to the One Epic Ocean show by Thinkwell. Another winner of a blooloop Innovation Award, the new show takes guests on an immersive journey through the ocean’s depths using cutting-edge technology, including the world’s largest cylindrical 360-degree LED screen.
In the US, the state-of-the-art Sphere venue boasts the world’s largest and highest-resolution LED screen. It also includes the world’s largest concert-grade audio system, made by Holoplot. Inside, Sphere serves as an entertainment destination. Outside, Sphere’s exterior features 580,000 square feet of LED lighting to display content.
Virtual landscapes
At the Artechouse studio in New York, a new exhibition is immersing guests in NASA’s galactic data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Luna Park Sydney’s new Dream Circus experience uses multi-layered immersive technologies like 360-degree projections, blockbuster surround sound, and holograms. An innovative ABBA production using cutting-edge technology to recreate the Swedish group has added £322.6 million to the London economy.
In Paris, the Musée d’Orsay’s VR experience is putting guests inside a virtual landscape of brush strokes and oil paints. These were developed using high-resolution scans of Van Gogh’s last surviving paint palette. Also part of the museum’s Van Gogh show is an AI-powered avatar of the artist who can answer visitors’ questions.
“In line with Vive Arts’ mission, La Palette de Van Gogh harnesses the power of immersive technology to offer an experience that is at once entertaining and educational, with audiences in charge of their own adventure as they delve into Van Gogh’s world and distinct approach to painting,” said Celina Yeh, director of Vive Arts.
7. Enhanced history
Another trend to note is historical experiences made immersive or unique. This concept is similar to last year’s trend for time travel, or bringing the past to life in new and captivating ways. Coming this year is a Shakespeare museum from Bompas & Parr, Historic England, and the Museum of London Archaeology.
Located on the site of an Elizabethan playhouse in east London, the museum will replicate the sights, smells and sounds of Shakespeare’s London in 1598 through AI. “This will be Shakespeare as you have never experienced it before,” said Harry Parr, co-founder of Bompas & Parr.
Also in London, the city’s mile-long Kingsway Exchange tunnels are to become a unique cultural experience. The history of the secret WWII tunnels will come to life through high-resolution screens, interactive structures, scent-emitting technology and hundreds of individual acoustic pinpoint speakers.
Bringing history to life
Elsewhere, an experience at the Carrickfergus Museum explored Ireland’s last witch trial via cutting-edge VR from technology firm Sentireal on behalf of Ulster University. The VR project “has allowed us to bring this important piece of our history to life in a way that will engage people in the 21st century”, said Dr Helen Jackson, senior lecturer in interactive media at Ulster University.
878AD from Sarner is an immersive experience that replicates the Anglo-Saxon through an interactive exhibition with live performance before an AR app tour of Winchester. 878AD reconstructs a key moment in history, the defeat of the Vikings by Alfred the Great in 878, thanks to a partnership with video game developer Ubisoft.
8. Kids brands
Children want to be immersed in their favourite brands just as much as adults. In 2023, we saw an upward trend for big brands such as Peppa Pig and Bluey in permanent spaces. Family entertainment companies and media giants like Universal are also busily developing branded experiences for little ones.
Universal’s first-ever family resort was announced for Frisco, Texas in early 2023. Universal Kids Resort will have a themed hotel and a theme park. This will feature lands inspired by the company’s family brands, characters and stories. Molly Murphy, president of Universal Creative, said:
“We’re designing the resort so kids and families can feel the thrill of being physically immersed in their most beloved stories and characters.”
Texas will also get a Peppa Pig Theme Park this year, as will Günzburg, Germany. The new parks follow the launch of the first standalone Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida in 2022. Bluey is another children’s TV series to get a permanent LBE home. Bluey’s World, opening in August in Brisbane, Australia, will be an immersive experience to celebrate the award-winning show.
Meanwhile, family experience company Camp is revolutionising retail experiences with its US-based experiential toy stores. Guests enter through Camp’s signature ‘magic door’ to find a themed world inspired by stories such as The Little Mermaid, Encanto, Bluey and Trolls Band Together.
9. Entrancing eating
This immersive experience trend is burgeoning; visitors no longer want a bland hotdog while they wait in line. They expect food and drinks to be themed, curated, and even the main event. If not, the environment must be distinctive or immersive.
Eatrenalin at Europa-Park is a media-based multi-sensory restaurant. Here, guests are immersed in a unique world through scents, tastes, visuals, acoustics and haptics. The new gastronomic experience is a blooloop Innovation Award winner in the blue sky category. It offers a 10-course fine dining meal on a dark ride vehicle, with guests moving through various rooms for different courses.
Immersive F&B experiences
Elsewhere, media experience brand Bucket Listers is behind F&B experiences themed to Mean Girls, Malibu Barbie and The Golden Girls. At the Mean Girls experience in LA and New York, guests can visit the ‘Cool Mom Bar’ and consume dishes including ‘Is Butter a Carb Cookies’.
Area15, Las Vegas’ immersive entertainment district, has opened a restaurant called Kaia Handroll featuring artworks generated by AI. And for Halloween 2023, Kraken Rum launched a unique horror bar in London where the price of drinks was determined by visitors’ heart rates. At an immersive restaurant in Paris, guests are immersed in a jungle experience from dawn to dusk.
More new concepts in immersive F&B include an MSC Cruises wine-tasting experience with interactive touch tables, and a sensory cocktail experience called Sensorium. Princess Cruises has also launched an immersive and sensory dining experience. This takes guests on a journey through the sights, sounds, textures and scents of the Mediterranean.
10. Gamification
What’s more immersive than playing inside a real-life video game, other than the rest of our top immersive experience trends? Gamification has been a key attractions trend and immersive trend in recent years as theme parks and other LBE operators develop new technologies and concepts. These are used to add an extra, interactive layer to their attractions.
Universal Studios’ Super Nintendo World in Japan and California is an innovator here. In this gamified land, interactive experiences are available thanks to wearable wristbands connected to smartphones via an app. Soon, guests will get to immerse themselves in a Donkey Kong-themed area – the world’s first, of course.
“Think of Super Nintendo World as a life-size, living video game where you become one of the characters. You’re not just playing the game. You’re living the game, you’re living the adventure,” said Thierry Coup, Universal Creative’s former senior VP and chief creative officer.
“We have developed some state-of-the-art technology to create the perfect fusion of the physical world with the world of video games,” he added. “I think the seamless integration of the gameplay is one of the most innovative experiences we have ever created at Universal Studios.”
Chaos Karts, a winner in this year’s blooloop Innovation Awards, bridges the gap between traditional go-karting and video games by incorporating state-of-the-art technology. This real-life gaming experience is immersive without any need for AR-enabled screens or VR headsets.
11. Immersive wellness
Immersive wellness experiences are coming this year. We’ve already seen this concept from Therme Group and teamLab. In 2021, Therme Art became a strategic investor in Superblue, an immersive art experience. Therme Art works with artists and architects to commission and develop projects for wellbeing resorts. The company combines digital art experiences with wellness attractions.
At its resorts, Therme fuses aquatic attractions and wellbeing treatments with art, nature and technology, providing a unique visitor experience. Highlights range from wave pools and waterslides to immersive digital art and botanical gardens.
Like Therme, teamLab has also merged art and wellness with TikTok teamLab Reconnect. The experience was an art and sauna exhibition in Tokyo where visitors could experience the artworks while alternating hot saunas and cold baths before entering a neurological state called ‘sauna trance’.
The trend for wellness
Area15 in Las Vegas already offers wellness experiences. These include immersive yoga classes with state-of-the-art sound and 360-degree projections and a psychedelic breath-work experience where attendees are surrounded by immersive visuals. Elsewhere, design studio Electric Jelly has created a concept for a rage room and spa experience for the brokenhearted.
Another wellness-adjacent experience in recent years is Dreamachine from Collective Act. This scientific study and immersive attraction is designed to take audiences on a magical journey into their own minds using just light and music.
In more recent news, KidZania has launched a new concept called kinezis, a gym-style destination combining fitness, wellness and entertainment. “We wanted to diversify and we saw an opportunity in wellness. We investigated everything that existed around the subject and launched this new proposal”, Xavier López Ancona, Kidzania’s founder, told Expansión.
