New patent showcases more exciting seating for virtual flight rides

New patent may showcase more realistic VR rides

A new patent is in the works to bring virtual reality rides at theme parks to the next level.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Soarin' is a Disney ride that sends guests on a flying journey around some of the world's best-known landmarks.

Visitors experience the sights, sounds, and even smells of the voyage as they go.

"You load on the bottom level, everybody loads across and all of a sudden you're lifted up into the sky and put in front of a curved screen, and it puts you in that screen and up, down, left, right, all you see is what's projecting towards you, which is usually flying across the sky," said Matt Roseboom, editor of Attractions Magazine.

The next time Disney, or another theme park, builds something like Soarin', this patent from Nashville-based Medici XD may be critical for giving visitors a realistic experience.

The technology describes a multi-row seating apparatus, like the one Soarin' uses, but takes it to a new, more extreme level.

"This looks very similar to Soarin' but it has the ability to rock back-and-forth, pitch different directions, so there's a lot more motion involved in this new system," said Annie Wilson, with Universal Parks News Today.

Theme park experts say - as with most patents - it may take years, if ever, for these new patents to be put into use at Orlando theme parks.

Theme park expert Jason Diffendal from WDWNT.com said it would open up a Soarin'-type ride to more adventurous possibilities. "Disney is always researching new ideas in all kinds of things, including ride technology. This is sort of the next evolution in a Soarin' ride system. Whether they're gonna implement this at Soarin,' I don't think so, because Soarin' is popular enough as it is."