BBC NEWSAmericasAfricaEuropeMiddle EastSouth AsiaAsia Pacific
BBCiNEWS  SPORT  WEATHER  WORLD SERVICE  A-Z INDEX    

BBC News World Edition
 You are in: Technology 
News Front Page
Africa
Americas
Asia-Pacific
Europe
Middle East
South Asia
UK
Business
Entertainment
Science/Nature
Technology
Health
-------------
Talking Point
-------------
Country Profiles
In Depth
-------------
Programmes
-------------
BBC Sport
News image
BBC Weather
News image
SERVICES
-------------
EDITIONS
Wednesday, 21 August, 2002, 10:52 GMT 11:52 UK
Riding the hi-tech rollercoaster
Mock-up of radio ticket, Innovision Research
This could spell the end of theme park queues
Thrills, screams, ice creams and queues are all part and parcel of going to a theme park.

But a British technology firm is working on a way to make the rollercoaster queues a thing of the past and something only your grandparents remember.

Innovision Research and Technology is developing a smart wristband that can tell you when its your turn to ride the log flume or rollercoaster no matter where you are in the park.

The disposable wristband will also have onboard a location device so children accidentally separated from their parents can be swiftly re-united.

Chips and change

The brains behind Innovision R&T are Marc Borret and Andy White who got their start in technology thinking up devices we never knew we needed for the Innovations catalogue.

Lauded and lambasted in equal measure the Innovations catalogue is a cornucopia of good ideas, but ones that are rarely exploited to their full potential.

Star Wars toys, Hasbro
Innovision has had big success with talking toys
The pair realised the potential of a really good idea shortly after they developed and debuted a battery charger for ordinary, rather than rechargeable, batteries.

"It was a great product but the company as a whole did not jump on it and do things with it," said Andy White, co-founder of Innovision R&T.

Despite this the share price of the company behind the Innovations catalogue leapt when the gadget was officially unveiled.

"We were surprised that this one product could affect a company of that size," said Mr White.

Shortly after Mr White and Marc Borret left Innovations to start up their own business that would use gadgets and smart technology to help big companies.

"It is not just about shaving off a few pence here or there," said Mr White, "it's about quite fundamental step changes in the price of a product."

Too often said Mr Borret many companies fail to appreciate what technology is capable of. Often, he said, they only associate technology with high costs rather than innovation.

Lost and found

Innovision R&T has been working with toy maker Hasbro on action figures to accompany the Star Wars films.

Custom-made speech chips developed by Innovision R&T sit inside the toys and give them a sophistication that others might lack.

Mr Borret said the cost of this chip had to be kept low because children rarely have lots of cash to splash around.

Battery close-up, BBC
Innovision founders first worked on battery chargers
The fact that Hasbro needed the chips made in their millions kept the costs low.

Innovision R&T is expecting a similar success with a smart wristband fitted with a radio identification tag.

The disposable wristband would be ideal for theme parks who want to find a better way to manage the numbers keen to ride the rollercoasters.

Instead of queuing the wristband would be used to book a place and even let the customer know when it was their turn.

The tag would also help locate people in the park and re-unite stray visitors with their tour groups or children with parents.

Innovision R&T believes it could make the bands so cheap that they would be disposable and is now working with companies that install technology for theme parks on refining the idea.

See also:

16 Feb 02 | Science/Nature
04 May 02 | England
29 Jul 02 | dot life
28 Jan 02 | Science/Nature
22 May 02 | Science/Nature
Internet links:


The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

Links to more Technology stories are at the foot of the page.


E-mail this story to a friend

Links to more Technology stories

© BBC^^ Back to top

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East |
South Asia | UK | Business | Entertainment | Science/Nature |
Technology | Health | Talking Point | Country Profiles | In Depth |
Programmes