Wednesday, April 16, 2008

To boldly go...

The morning started with the, by now, usual routine. 9am breakfast in the hotel. They actually change the items from day to day a little! And we noticed that the breakfast isn't very popular. It's a big room, but I think about a quarter of the tables were used.
Anyway. After breakfast back to the NAB show of course. Today we wanted to check out the sound theme in the north hall. We were hoping to see some special speakers and advanced equipment to project sound. Alas, nothing like that. Again primarily sound recording and processing for broadcasting, just like with the video companies in the south hall. The only speaker company was JBL and they only had normal speakers. There were of course some others, like a small company that offers 22.2 (yep, no typo) sound. And me thinking 7.1 is already somewhat over the top!
We two other booths that caught our interest. The first was one with a miniature helicopter (about 1,5m long) that holds a camera and is remotely controlled. Just think about it: put a 306* camera in, project it on a HMD and let the user control the helicopter! Guaranteed to send you crashing into the floor :-).
The other company had a very nice 3D screen. It uses polarized images (so you have to wear special glasses), but the resolution, clarity and angle of view were amazing. Standing nearly at a nearly 180* angle, still gave the 3D effect and you could actually move from left to right in front of the screen and see the object move over each other!

After a quick scan of the rest of the north and central halls we decided that we'd seen all there is to see for CAMeRA. So we hiked back to the hotel to drop of some stuff and let Johan check his e-mail.
Then it was to the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton hotel, just one block from our hotel.
Now this is awesome. Whether you like attractions, Star Trek or high tech stuff, it's really cool. The STE area is smoothly integrated into the hotel's casino, which has a Sci-Fi look to it, in contrast with most other casino's. Downstairs is the shop and Quarks bar and restaurant. Upstairs is the entrance to the Experience. With your ticket you can ride both the Borg Invasion 4D and the Klingon Encounter. The queueing area is actually the ST museum with lots of original props and costumes on display.
We started with the Borg Invasion 4D. It starts out peacefully at a science station, but of course things take a wrong turn quickly. A Borg vessel is attacking the station and we are supposed to be evacuated. During this bit the floor vibrates as the Borg weapons wreak havoc on the station. The group walks through Star Trek themed corridors including life actors (one of which is a Borg). It really sets the mood, before the group enters a large (really large) theatre that represents the escape shuttle. Then a 4D movie (3D movie with polarized glasses plus additional effects of motion, prodding from the chair and wind) starts in which the Borg try to assimilate you. Voyager comes to the rescue and the show is over.
The movie is rather nice and well done for a 3D movie. The added effect are good and take you by surprise now and then.

After the first show we strolled through the shop were they have some nice ST memorabilia, at least if you're a trekkie :-).

Then we entered the STE again and did the Klingon Encounter. This was the original show, the Borg show was added later and replaced an identical second area of the Klingon Encounter. While standing in line for the show to start it was fun to hear Trekkies talk about the props on display.

The Klingon Encounter starts with the group being lined up before four doors, leading you to think you're going on a simulator type ride. Then the lights pop out and a lot of noise and wind buffet you. When the light come back on again you're on a transporter platform on board the USS Enterprise (Next Gen series) in the future. You then walk onto a real (almost) life size bridge of the Enterprise D. With the arched horse shoe security station, captain's chair, ops and con and viewscreen. After some video shots and life actor action you enter a turbo lift that experiences a malfunction (it drops - not really though).
Then comes the actual ride as you board a simulator that is the shuttle craft with which you escape the Enterprise and bring you back to the 21st century. It's a typical wild space battle simulator ride using a large half sphere as movie screen. The ride is pretty bumpy, but the edge of the screen is visible now and then, destroying a part of the illusion. It's good enough though to start some motion sickness in me! Non too bad though.

After the rides we did a bit of shopping and decided to go on the backstage tour. The whole attraction is something that fits within CAMeRA's mission, so we wanted to see how they pulled it al off.
First we had something to drink and eat in Quark's bar. Johan quickly scribbled some notes for his book after seeing the STE attractions and hearing some of the Trekkies talk. :-)

Oh, we did the Klingon Encounter a second time before we started on the backstage tour.
The tour was fun and very interesting. Our guide (Christopher) took us through the corridors and explained a lot about the building of it, the effects used, the little funny details (like the sentences on the little stickers on the wall panels). We went backstage and saw the simulators in actions from the floor beneath them (really cool), saw the waiting room -> transporter pad effect with the lights on (the ceiling and walls are actually pulled up 40ft within 2,5 seconds and a new ceiling moves into place in 2,5 seconds. Impressive.) We spent some time one the bridge set and were allowed to sit in the chairs! "Engage!" :-).
All in all it was something we wouldn't have wanted to miss! If you're ever in Las Vegas do that if that's the only thing you do. Really.

At 7pm we went out for dinner. First we checked out a giant souvenir shop near the hotel. Your standard tourist stuff, but always fun to see.
Although we've really fallen in love with our Thai restaurant, we had already decided to try something different tonight (but not tomorrow!). So we choose an Indian place close by. The atmosphere was definitely a lot less than the Thai. Service was too formal for our taste and it was a lot busier (=noisier). The food was okay (Marco had a curry sampler and Johan a goat curry), but not really good. Oh well, after all that traveling into the future any kind of food would be a bit bland :-).

Tomorrow is our last full day. CU all then.




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