Futuristic ‘Hive Break’ Debuts in China
An epic sci-fi battle over ancient alien technology is taking place in OCT Group’s Fabland Valley Resort in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China. “Hive Break,” a 12-minute, 1,000-square-meter attraction, designed and developed by Triotech, features two parallel paths with intertwining narratives.
“The first component of each walkthrough is a dynamic pod that replicates a space shuttle,” explains Harley Bostock, Triotech’s managing director for Asia-Pacific. “Guests are immersed in a thrilling ride that takes them through an alien wormhole to a distant galaxy where they face a pirate attack and a crash landing.”
Next stop: a training facility where guests learn how to use their targeting device and then move on to a 3D motion simulator, the XD Dark Ride. The interactive media content is built on the Unreal game engine.
“This double walkthrough attraction offers a high throughput and encourages repeat visits,” Bostock adds, “as guests experience a different narrative, depending on which side they choose in the queue line.”
Museum Exhibit by Day, Escape Room by Night
Landlines, typewriters, bulky computers, and cassette players are just a few of the archaic devices highlighted in the National Museum of Singapore’s latest interactive installation, “Off/On: Everyday Technology that Changed Our Lives, 1970s – 2000s.”
Old computer screens come alive in the exhibit with personal anecdotes of Singaporeans using commonplace technological objects. Visitors listen to nostalgic conversations set in familiar local settings—a hair salon, coffee shop, and office—fitting for each venue, on the telephones. They can also watch commercials and television shows from yesteryear on bulky TV sets.
“We invite visitors to reconnect with these technologies, while inspiring conversations and curiosity among the younger generations unfamiliar with them,” explains Priscilla Chua, the museum’s senior curator.
Additionally, in the evenings after the museum closes, the “Off/On” exhibit transforms into an escape room, where participants decipher clues to “uncover a secret technological device that can help prevent a mass shutdown of the world’s technology.”
