New theme park offers stunning interaction with the environment
ENTERTAINMENT
Concept images of Orbi theme park in Yokohama
Journey to the Heart of Nature
New theme park offers stunning interaction with the environment
By Julian Ryall
• First“ supercharged nature experience”
• Sights, smells, sounds, vibrations
• Two-hour, three-stage voyage of discovery
BBC Worldwide is teaming up with Sega Corporation to create a new theme park that will use cutting-edge technology to enable visitors to experience the natural environment and interact with the wildlife that inhabits the planet.
The ambitious project— named Orbi— was developed over two years with close involvement from BCCJ member firm,
Eat Creative K. K. Unveiled on 29 May, the project’ s park will open in Yokohama’ s Minatomirai district on 19 August.“ The BBC has been producing wonderful wildlife footage for more than 50 years, and we have decided to try to create something that will be distinctive in the world”, said Sega President and Chief Operating Officer Naoya Tsurumi in a press conference.“ We have been able to create outstanding content that has never been seen before”, Tsurumi added.
Orbi, which takes its name from the words“ orb” and“ orbit” and is designed to have appeal across all nationalities and generations, will be the world’ s first“ supercharged nature experience”, he said.
“ We want to offer an experience that people can’ t get even in the real world”, he said, explaining that this includes, for example, the experience of being in the middle of a stampede of 1.3mn wildebeest.
As well as high-resolution images and the sound of being caught up in the creatures’ annual migration, the attraction will incorporate the vibration and shock waves caused as the animals’ hooves hit the ground.
“ We want to transport people from their lives in the middle of the metropolis to the heart of the natural world”, he added.
Eat Creative has been central to Orbi’ s global brand development, naming and visual identity since 2011.“ We’ ve worked closely with the BBC and Sega”, said Executive Creative Director Steve Martin, as he described the one-of-a-kind experience.
“ We’ ve created a‘ living’ logo that can change and grow as the experience evolves”, Martin said. Integrated into all aspects of the experience, both physical and online, the logo has evolved into a device that becomes a guide as you explore, transporting you between interactive experiences and providing facts and figures along the way.
Orbi will be spread over nearly 4,800m 2 in the city’ s new MARK IS Minatomirai
42 | BCCJ ACUMEN | JULY 2013