Note: This article was originally published on July 13th.
New York’s latest observation deck is now open to the public, with the 100th floor inside the recently opened One World Trade Center boasting some high-tech features you would expect from a modern high rise.
While the number one attraction for the One World Observatory will be the view, users will also be able to interact with the New York skyline.
David Checketts, CEO of Legends, the company operating the observatory says, “This whole experience is built around technology.”
To achieve this goal, the company enlisted outside help in the form of Universal Theme Park designers, overseen by former Disney executive David Kirschner. One World Trade Center boasts some of the fastest lifts in the world, with users in the elevators getting a virtual time-lapse of the New York City skyline while hurtling towards the 102nd floor.
While it’ll only take 60 seconds to reach the 102nd floor, visitors will still have the time to see New York’s history from the 1500s to the present day. Using floor-to-ceiling LEDs visitors will feel as if they’re witnessing the development of New York first hand.
One of the coolest pieces of technology however is employed on the 100th floor of the observatory, where guides stand at the center of an interactive circular ring of HD monitors that are activated by gesture recognition technology. This ring is being called ‘City Pulse’ and has been installed by Local Projects – the same media studio behind some of the features at the revamped Smithsonian Design Museum and the National September 11th Memorial & Museum. It comprises of 10 overlapping LCD screens that can respond to the gestures of an accompanying tour guide to offer real-time snapshots of city information.
The ring was specifically designed with a special mount to give visitors an unrestricted view of New York City, in fact Local Projects created an algorithm to ensure that it could optimize the view through the ring. While guides will be given the reigns of the ring, they’ll actually be delivering their spiel with a little comedy in tow. Wearing a gesture-controlled arm band, the comedian can point to 10 positions around the circle to pull up topics that visitors might be interesting in – like New York’s history or ideal places to shop and eat. Once the comedian points to the topic, 10 potential storyline under that topic appear. These could be anything from the top 10 places to eat in NYC, or real-time Instagram images of Yankee Stadium.
While City Pulse will be one of the flagship attractions, another may have people feeling a little queasy as they stand over displays mounted in the ground. Using HD cameras affixed to the tower’s spire, visitors will be able to see the ground below them as if they were floating in the air. The designers had to make the digital view as realistic as possible, with David Checketts having to reassure guests that they won’t be falling through the 14-foot wide translucent circular disks anytime soon.
Visitors have one more tech option for their visit, and it’s all about using one of the most ubiquitous pieces of technology – the iPad. By renting an iPad visitors will be able to point the device at ‘hot spots’ around New York which will give them the ability to learn more about that specific place.
Speaking of the iPad functionality David says, “If you take your iPad down on the 100th floor and push Yankee Stadium, all of sudden you’ll be watching on your iPad a helicopter ride from the top of the Trade Center to Yankee Stadium. Just very quick. And then it will tell you how many people attend there every year and how many championships they’ve won, and the same to 40 other spots in the city. So it’s interactive, educational, inspirational, I think. And all about looking forward.”
The One World Observatory is located on floor 100 to 102 at One World Trade Centre in New York City and is open to the public.
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Video: Take a tour of the new One World Observatory.
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