UPDATED 11:23 EST / JUNE 24 2011

SEGA and BBC Earth Unite to Create Interactive Multi-sensory Nature “Experience"

sega-bbc SEGA will be using footage and knowledge drawn from the immense archives of BBC Worldwide to create a giant themed interactive experience for visitors that allows them to experience natural history in a way not done before. The companies have revealed that the experience is set to open in Japan and the US in the next two years and will be housed in a 4,000 square-meter, multi-level space where guests “will have an unforgettable encounter with Mother Nature –supercharged.”

As a video game developer, SEGA has a lot going for it along the lines of being able to produce an interactive experience from otherwise non-interactive footage. They’ve been developing video games for over 30 years and also as a previous console manufacturer they’ve got some experience with the ideas behind the technology of presentation.

The themed enclosure is expected to use content from BBC Earth’s hit series—including Planet Earth and The Blue Planet—combined with technology from SEGA’s Facility Business. They are well known as the division who build arcades and theme parks such as Tokoyo’s Joypolis.

“I am very happy that we have been able to join together with BBC Worldwide who possess one of the world’s finest libraries of Natural History footage,” said Okitane Usui, SEGA Corporation’s COO. “I am confident that by fusing this fabulous content with our entertainment know-how, we can deliver a new and thoroughly unique experience of the natural world. Through the universal theme of nature, SEGA will create a new live entertainment experience that will be enjoyed by all nationalities, ages and genders.”

That live entertainment experience will occur in a theme-park like atmosphere that visitors will pay an entrance fee to view. Looking at SEGA’s other attractions: it will likely be an extremely high tech environment with a great deal of interactivity, motion simulators, and possibly virtual reality environments.

Perhaps we’ll see a new technology emerge from this endeavor similar to the tensator virtual assistants at London Luton Airport.

“The BBC is famous around the world for the quality of its natural history film-making,” said Marcus Arthur, Managing Director, Global Brands for BBC Worldwide, “and the BBC Earth brand is all about providing international audiences with new ways to experience and enjoy it.”

Arthur went on to explain that this is the first venture of its kind between the BBC and SEGA and that they will harness the expertise and power of the video game developer’s already powerful repertoire.

No details have been released yet about the experience yet or locations in Japan or the United States, but with a timeline yet over two years we couldn’t expect much.


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