Frontgrid, an expert in adventure leisure and virtual reality attractions, has brought its popular ParadropVR virtual reality flying experience to a leading attraction in Wales, UK. Now, visitors to Snowdonia National Park can experience the area in a new way through Fly Snowdon, which features three games that explore the mountains of North Wales.
Matt Wells, CEO and co-founder of Frontgrid, said: “ParadropVR is now in 11 countries worldwide and counting. The opening of Fly Snowdon is particularly meaningful for us on three counts. Firstly, we are proud to be leading the way in creating custom VR content inspired by real-world destinations. We are innovating what “tourism” and “experience” means.”
“Secondly, because the content is meaningful. It looks to balance entertainment with a touch of positive learning – hoping to influence action in the real world not just within the game. And thirdly, the Frontgrid head office is based locally near Conwy in North Wales, it is fantastic to have the installation on our doorstep at the most perfect location at Adventure Parc Snowdonia, celebrating an environment we are all truly passionate about.”
Fly Snowdon
Each of the three games has a different learning outcome. ‘Snowdon Navigator’ places guests in the environment and allows them to experience it in a new way, as they explore it from the sky. Next, ‘Snowdon by Night’ transports them to the Dark Skies Reserve at nighttime, looking at the constellations and how visitors can reduce light pollution.
Finally, the ‘Snowdon Peak Challenge’, takes guests across the three mountain ranges, inspiring them to visit other parts of the park.
Andy Ainscough, owner and director of Adventure Parc Snowdonia says: “It’s really exciting to launch Fly Snowdon here. Everything at Adventure Parc Snowdonia is geared to innovation in adventure and experience, so Fly Snowdon fits well within our offering.
“It’s a completely new way to experience Snowdonia for families, school groups and corporate events. It is a spectacle to watch as well as participate in and as you collect points along the way ParadropVR is great for what is called within the industry ‘competitive socialising’. Visitors can either try it as a one-off as part of their day with us, or buy a few flights and look to better their VR flying skills and scores and discover more things in their environment.”
New research project
The Fly Snowdon games were the output of a research project conducted by Frontgrid and supported and funded by Clwster, looking to put innovation at the centre of media production in Wales and funded as part of the UK government’s Industry Strategy and Creative Industries Clusters Programme.
This project – called “Creating a Virtual Paradigm – a new way of looking at things” explored the research question – “how can virtual reality be used to connect people with real-world places”.
Frontgrid built a topographical replica of Snowdonia in VR, using existing data and 3D models. The team then used Unreal Engine to enhance the experience, adding details such as reflections on lakes and the heights of mountains, as well as rings to fly through, constellations and things that fly past you.
Frontgrid’s business development director, Tammy Owens, coordinated the project. She says:
“Virtual reality allows you to add another layer of imagination onto a place. If you can imagine it, in VR you can make it happen. It simply is a new channel for storytelling and education. Our experiences are predominantly focused on entertainment.
“However, whilst we have people’s captive attention, we wanted to also capitalise on trying to create positive impacts and behaviour changes in the real world where we can. As an industry we are bad at that, we see a real opportunity to carve out a role for meaningful entertainment. If you can connect a person to a place and teach them about it, they are more likely to find out more about it and subsequently look after it.”
An impactful experience
ParadropVR brings together motion-based engineering and virtual reality environments to create sensational experiences. The attraction is multiplayer, so guests can experience it together, and can also battle against each other for high scores in Frontgrid’s global online league. It is the creation of Wells, a former para in the British Army
“Experiential learning in the real world translates to experiential learning in VR,” says Wells. “If you can feel it, see it, interact with it, it can be a much more impactful experience than just for example reading about it in a textbook.
“Fly Snowdon also has accessibility benefits, in that most people can’t actually experience jumping off a mountain under a canopy and exploring a location from the sky. It is a totally different way of looking at a place.”
“This is the second location-based flying experience we have opened. The first being in 2018 at the Mahanannakhon Tower, the tallest tower in Bangkok. The experience there is that you go up to the top of the tower and experience the real-world view. Then you can try our installation and experience ‘what it would be like if you jumped off the tower and flew over the city.’”
Over 150,000 people visit Adventure Parc Snowdonia each year, where they can take part in a range of adventure activities, from an artificial surf wave to an indoor aerial assault course.
Earlier this year, Frontgrid also announced the first ParadropVR for the US, to be located at Sprockets Fun Foundry in South Dakota.
