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Pioneer 'Virtual Resort' Unveiled At 'Innoventions' In Disneyland Park
Virtual Vacation Brought to Life Through Pioneer Technology and Disney Magic
Long Beach, CA 8/22/2001
Pioneer Electronics and DISNEYLAND™ park today unveiled a futuristic virtual resort inside the world-famous theme park in Anaheim, California. This virtual vacation escape at the "Innoventions" pavilion in Tomorrowland showcases new and next-generation digital technologies for home and mobile entertainment. For DISNEYLAND, the Virtual Resort adds an exciting, highly interactive component to "Innoventions" while continuing to position the venue as an environment where consumers can see, feel and experience new technologies that will impact their lives in the near future. For Pioneer, the exhibit will play an important role in its new branding initiatives, showcasing the latest in DVD recording and plasma displays to millions of visitors annually.
"We are very proud to join with DISNEYLAND to create the ultimate virtual vacation for techno savvy travelers," said Kazunori Yamamoto, president and CEO of Pioneer North America, Inc. "Disney's magic has been instrumental in developing this incredible journey through entertainment technology."
"Pioneer's technologies and products are ideal for the hands-on experience at 'Innoventions'," said Cynthia Harriss, president of the DISNEYLAND Resort. "We are thrilled to partner with Pioneer and pleased to offer guests the opportunity to travel through the latest digital entertainment technologies in this virtual resort."
Exploring the Virtual Resort When entering the Virtual Resort, guests are greeted by one of three Virtual Bellhops who appear throughout the exhibit to explain various interactive displays in English, Japanese or Spanish.
Like any resort, the Registration Desk maintains a tremendous amount of data and is truly the "brains" of this networked operation. A Pioneer industrial DVD player (DRM-7000) busily works away and houses an astounding 720 DVD discs, sending signals to the Virtual Suites, Activity Center and Jungle Jam lounge. An eye-catching total of 41 plasma screens are found throughout the interactive, user-friendly exhibit.
When visitors first enter one of the Virtual Suites, it appears to be sparsely decorated. But with the use of touch-screens, high-definition images and Pioneer's plasma display technology, guests transform the suite instantaneously to a snowbound Alpine cabin, a sun-drenched Greek island retreat, a romantic castle tower or a charming New England seaport town. The 50-inch plasma displays (PDP-505HD), embedded as "windows" in the walls, create super-crisp images looking out over a snow-capped mountain or the Mediterranean Sea, depending on the destination of choice. The entire room can change surroundings in an instant.
In addition to selecting a virtual destination, guests can personalize their entertainment with interactive television. Video-on-demand (Voyager 3000) allows them to access statistics about favorite athletes and to review the hot plays of the day on ESPN. They can also select from a variety of movies while experiencing 5.1-channel surround-sound with movie theater-style playback.
The next stop is the Home Movie Activity Center, where the Virtual Bellhop will explain Pioneer's new DVD recording technology (DVR-7000) as guests edit digital images of scenic locations throughout Disneyland. Here guests can edit out unwanted shots or assemble shots in the desired order into the final movie clip.
No resort is complete without a hip and happenin' club. At the Virtual Resort, guests can enter the Jungle Jam lounge to play DJ for the day, mixing their favorite tunes, adding sound effects, or skipping and scratching CDs (CDJ-1000). They can also feed fierce piranhas in a pond. Of course, these are virtual fish, swimming on plasma displays that utilize a Pioneer-engineered touch-screen technology. Adults and kids alike will have fun touching the fish on-screen to make them get bigger, smaller or to see them swim away.
In the Valet Parking Area, it's time to go cruising in a classic car stocked with the latest advances in DVD-based navigation technology (AVIC-9DVD) on a virtual road trip along Route 66. Guests sitting in the second seat can enjoy Pioneer's mobile entertainment products, and those in the rear seat can view movies or play Disney video games.
The Virtual Resort at "Innoventions" is open to guests during regular park operating hours. The exhibit will be updated with the latest technologies as they become available to ensure that there is always something new and exciting at this virtual vacation destination.
Today's technology, in a variety of playful and practical everyday uses, is the focus of "Innoventions." This dynamic venue offers hands-on experience of current and near-future technologies, enabling people of all ages to experiment with an array of interactive devices, games and exhibits, demonstrating how today's innovations can improve life for all of us.
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