Sunday, January 30, 2000
Digital camera records fun at theme park
Visitors can buy prints on Web
BY JOHN ECKBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Digital memories of thrilling roller-coaster rides or water flume slides could soon replace traditional theme park photographs through a venture between a Cincinnati theme park consultant and an Israeli high-technology firm.
Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., has signed on as vice president of market ing/themed entertainment for ImageID Ltd., a company in Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel. Mr. Speigel is not relinquishing any duties at International Theme Park Services Inc.
ImageID's AtraCam automated digital photographic system offers amusement parks and other tourist attractions a hassle-free way to bring images to tourists — even after they leave the park.
It is an industry where you can still buy a thrill, and with ImageID, visitors can get a digital photo of each one.
“The opportunity is tremendous. I've never seen anything take on such a high profile position in this industry so immediately,” said Mr. Speigel.
Already, Walt Disney Co., Universal Studios, Paramount and Six Flags have signed up or are negotiating for tests in their parks.
The system works like this:
• Visitors enroll when they enter the park and get “Imagecode” stickers, which register every time the person passes a park camera on rides or a park photographer.
• Images are downloaded into a computer.
• When visitors want to look at their gallery, they go to a “PhotoKiosk” where the sticker is scanned and photos are displayed.
Because amusement parks generate 25 percent of their non-food merchandise revenue from the sale of photographic products, the revenue potential is huge, said Mr. Speigel.
The system also promises to reduce waste because photos no longer have to be printed before a sale. Each digital photo is expected to cost $8 to $10.
The system may drive clicks to theme park Web sites because visitors can collect im ages up to 60 days after their trip and forward images to family and friends on the Internet.
The company is talking about possibly a billion pictures. Last year, theme parks around the world had more than 300 million guests. That attendance is more than the combined attendance of all professional sports: soccer, baseball, basketball, football and hockey. Encoding possibilities will approach 1.2 billion combinations by this time next year.
A test version of AtraCam is in place at Miami Seaquarium in Florida, and consumers are using it, said Arthur Hertz, chief executive of Wometco. That is the parent company of the Seaquarium. “It adds value to our per capita revenue. People are going home and are ordering pictures off our Web site. It has been very well received,” he said.
ImageID maintains offices in Israel, Coral Gables, Fla., and Florence, Italy. Cruise ships, casinos, museums, malls, sporting events, ski resorts and business conferences are other target markets for ImageID, Mr. Speigel said.
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