My son and I are both fans of the Harry Potter series and we’ve been avidly watching progress of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. My teen son has become so obsessed, that he now listens to MuggleCast and has started a Twitter account just to follow other Harry Potter fans. I know he’ll be so excited when he comes home from school today and I give him the latest news that’s been sent from Univeral Orlando. I thought I’d also share this news with other family travelers and fans of the series.
On January 28, USA TODAY and Universal Orlando Resort will partner to provide the first-ever augmented reality map of this most highly anticipated theme park experience - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. With just a computer, webcam and the newspaper, you can make this one-of-a-kind theme park experience appear before your eyes.
But what the heck is augmented reality? I’ve been hearing this term a good bit, with iPhone apps and within the gaming industry. For the general public, the easiest way to explain is that augmented reality is a combination of real life environments and virtual computer generated imagery put together in real time interactive 3D.
For Harry Potter fans, if you can get your hands on a copy of USAToday on January 28, there will be instructions on how to access The Wizarding World of Harry Potter through this augmented reality map, allowing you to get a closer look at the 20 acre theme park. You’ll need the actual map included in the newspaper. Just hold the map up to your webcam, rotating it to see different angles of the park and Hogwart’s Castle will appear on your computer screen. If you hold the map closer to your webcam, you can explore Hogsmeade and see Hogwarts Express. Want a bit more reality? Just blow into your computer’s microphone and you can make the banners on the map wave.
Just writing about this gets me excited to see the actual place in person. I’ll be in Montreal presenting at Canada e-Connect, but I know my husband will be woken up before dawn with our son asking him to go out and find a USAToday newpaper.
Are you planning a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? What do you think of this type of marketing for a new park?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
We will be travelling to Walt Disney World in May. We will DEFINITELY be making a stop at Universal Studios to see the new Harry Potter park. Thanks for the update… Keep updating us on new news about the new park!!!
I feel like I am one of the few English speakers who have not read Harry Potter but I love this fascinating appraoch to marketing a new concept. I ahve a feeling that the response will be overwhelming.
I cannot wait for the Harry Potter portion to open at Universal!
Stefanie @ Mommy Musings´s last blog ..Mama’s Got a New…Passport!
I’ve never even seen the movies, much less read the books, but after reading your post, I want to go to this theme park. Such cool new technology.
Barbara at Hole in the Donut Travels´s last blog ..In an Era of Civil Unrest, Chicago’s Maxwell Street Welcomed Everyone
I’m like Barbara – never seen the movies or read the book – but I do love it cutting edge technology! It sounds unbelievable! Will need to tell my nieces about this right away!
Sherry Ott´s last blog ..Photo of the Week – China
I’ve seen the first movie but haven’t read any of the books. Some of the terms in cutting technology sound like a foreign language to me. Harry Potter fans will definitely be happy campers on a visit to Universal Studios. Maybe your son will give is a first-hand report?
Donna Hull´s last blog ..Saturday’s scene: Close Encounters in Bluff
I know about- it’s pretty cool tech. We have it at the Lego Imagination Center at Downtown Disney (most likely at other lego stores across the world) and it does a similar thing; you take select boxes up to the cam, and it will build the set for you, complete with animations and such. I’ll have to check this out; I’ve been intrigued since i saw the one at LEGO
Although the books are great, I gather the series is finished for now, so I’m amazed at the level of investment, I guess we’ll now see a whole industry building up to perpetuate the magic, in the same way as disney does
Heather on her travels´s last blog ..Crab cakes fit for a Princess at the Mandarin Oriental in London
Looks cool, they did something like this with some editions of the Star Trek DVD. Hold it up to a computer camera and you’d get to “look” into the DVD cover in 3-D and move around the ship.
Appeals to adults and kids alike! Would love to see it and experience the Potter sensation. Great story, Shannon!
Dot´s last blog ..Tea Time with Jackie
That Harry Potter Theme Park gets me so excited in my trip to California next month. I have seen the movie series and I can’t afford not to see that park personally!
I’m inclined to agree with Heather. I enjoyed the books, but I wonder how long the enthusiasm will last. I don’t know if it will be able to sustain an entire amusement park.