From: stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini)
Subject: REV-ENTERTAIN: Big Screen Simulator Rides (was INDUSTRY: Iwerks goes pu
Organization: Unocal Corporation


The LA Times had an article about the company and the stock price run
up.  It is located in Burbank, CA and founded by ex-Disney executives.
The expected product is large screen simulator rides.

If these rides are anything like the Universal City Back-to-the-Future
ride, then I won't be too impressed or likely to try them.
The B2F ride has an array of a dozen simulators facing an IMAX-size
screen.  Eight people rode in each car-shaped simulator.
The ride lasted five minutes for a throughput of 1152 people an hour.
For about the first minute I was disoriented and felt the car was
flying. Then the effect wore off and I felt I was in a shaky box
in front of a movie screen.  Part of the problem was image distortion
on the large curved screen.  Another problem was that I could see the
other 11 simulators bouncing around out of the side of my eyes.
Walls seperate each simulator when the ride is loaded and unloaded.
These [dis]appear at the beginning and end of the ride in darkness,
so you don't see that.