It's an entire theme park, driven by the Kinect

d'strict

By Matthew Hawkins

It's been a little over a year, and Microsoft's motion sensing add-on for the Xbox 360 has not lit the world of video games on fire. The only titles truly worth getting are "Dance Central" and "Dance Central 2." "Leela," the New Age-y program by Deepak Chopra is also noteworthy, but it's less a game and more of a tool for meditation. Nothing else on the horizon looks or sounds remotely interesting.

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Meanwhile, hackers and others have been having a field day with the Kinect. Not a week goes by in which someone hasn't figured a new wild and wacky way to repurpose it as a tool for interfacing with technology, creating art or just having fun. And now comes something that does all three.

It's called Live Park, the brainchild of d'strict, a South Korean-based new media venture. It's advertised as a theme park that "enables visitors to experience a virtual world previously only seen in movies like 'Minority Report' and 'Avatar.' " The somewhat difficult to decipher PR blast details attractions like "Ender Mirror," in which visitors create virtual counterparts and take pictures by laughing at something called a "smile engine."

Then there's "Live360," advertised as the world's biggest interactive stereoscopic theater. Via avatars, visitors can engage in a "realistic" video game with multiple endings. It, along with all the other attractions, are all powered by Kinect-driven displays that interact with visitors, all wearing RFID wristbands, and whose faces and voices are recognized by Microsoft's versatile peripheral.

Kotaku's mention of the place includes this trailer, which makes things a tad bit clear:

There are plans in place to expand Live Park into China and Singapore, plus other parts of Asia, along with North America, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The press release also notes: "Last year James Cameron announced plans for an 'Avatar' themed land at Disney's Animal Kingdom to begin construction in 2013. With 'Live Park', d'strict (will) have created a 4D avatar theme park that's here today!"

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Matthew Hawkins is a NYC based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot, and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode, and co-hosts of The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via?Twitter,?or his personal home-base,?FORT90.com.

Source: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10253690-its-an-entire-theme-park-driven-by-the-kinect

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