Lots of technology in virtual balconies

[Spring Valley]

Love cruising, but don’t want to pay the money for a stateroom with an ocean view? Now it’s no problem. Royal Caribbean is set to unveil a high-tech feature on its ships that’s something right out of the TV show “The Jetsons”

 

In February a limited number of newly designed virtual balconies will be rolled out in the interior staterooms on Navigator of the Seas, which is just completing a dry-dock upgrade and will sail next week out of Galveston, Texas. Virtual balconies are high definition screens that show what’s outside the ship in real time, so you can enjoy the scenery from inside your room, even if you don’t have a porthole or veranda.

 

Originally designed for Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, which is set to sail next November, the cruise line decided to install this futuristic feature in 81 staterooms on Navigator of the Seas.

 

This is far more than just a feed from a camera to a large screen, says Ronnie Farzad, Royal Caribbean’s head of entertainment technology.

 

Charlie Miller of Control Group, the concept design company behind the virtual balconies, said the rooms will feature an 80-inch, high-definition display framed to appear like a real balcony, stretching nearly floor to ceiling and wall to wall, complete with the sound of the seas in real-time from the camera location. Another interesting detail is that the virtual balconies will include a banister for a feeling of safety.

 

Royal Caribbean tested a simulated virtual balcony on 30 to 40 people at the Royal Caribbean headquarters, and one recurring comment was that an open ocean view is a little scary – because there was nothing to keep passengers from “falling in,” especially if the ship is moving in high seas, Farzad said.

 

While there are only a limited number of virtual balconies planned for Navigator of the Seas, there will be one in every interior cabin on Quantum of the Seas. Even the “Studio Staterooms” for singles will have smaller versions.

 

Expanding on the virtual experience

 

Royal Caribbean isn’t the first cruise line to offer a virtual view on its ships. Disney was the first to offer virtual portholes in its interior cabins, but they are only 42-inch circles made to look like portholes. The display shows a video feed from a live camera outside the ship.

 

There were several challenges to creating an authentic feel to Royal Caribbean’s virtual balconies. Designers wanted to create virtual banisters and even balusters, the vertical poles that hold the banisters in place. But the banister had to appear to be outside the window, like on a real balcony. And that created a whole new set of visual challenges, because the look of a real banister changes all the time as the sun and the ship change directions. The answer was to incorporate sun movement charts and powerful GPS data to add “real” shadows and highlights to the virtual banisters. At the same time, they decided not to put virtual glass between the balusters. “It only detracted from the beautiful ocean image on the display. Plus, no one is going to fall through them, anyway,” Miller said.

 

The Motion of the Ocean

 

A bigger challenge was to display the motion of the ocean. Consulting experts from M.I.T. and Harvard warned of unpleasant feelings when visual perceptions of motion don’t coordinate with real physical feelings. This meant there had to be as little delay as possible between the camera feed and the screen display. An advanced technology called fibre-channel was the answer. “Once we got the latency under one second, it was no longer an issue,” Farzad said.

 

Other top-of-the-line technology comes in the Academy Award-winning RED Epic HD cinema cameras, which capture the images of what passengers will see. It was decided that the best viewing angles were not to the sides of the ship, but forward and aft, so the cameras were placed at the bow and the stern. Real balcony staterooms with the same views usually sell out first. Each virtual balcony is on a side wall and not the wall facing port or starboard. In addition, the images correspond only to the direction the virtual balcony faces. The designers chose to give each room a remote control so the guests can turn the picture on and off and control the volume, but they cannot change views between forward and aft.

 

“It has to do with coordinating the visual images with the physical feelings,” Farzad said.

 

Another technical decision was to use a wide-angle, “fish-eye” lens on the cameras. “These give a more accurate representation of the visuals from a real balcony,” Miller said. Plus, they also found a drastic reduction in the feeling of motion in the image.

 

In the end, virtual balconies have all the visual and aural advantages of a real balcony – including a feeling of safety and a lower price point than a real balcony. The only thing missing, of course, is the fresh air.

 

The “Virtual Balcony” Debut

 

Your first opportunity to cruise with a virtual balcony on Navigator of the Seas will be on a four-day cruise leaving Galveston on Feb. 5, at $429 per person. If you are interested in seeing these virtual balconies, go to Navigator of the Seas.

 

 

 

From:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/01/31/royal-caribbean-unveils-virtual-balconies-on-its-ships/?intcmp=features

 

 

Who would of ever thought that you could get sea sick from a virtual balcony!

 

Keith

[SConnolly]

Thank you for sharing, love these factoids.

 

Concept seems interesting, albeit I prefer my real balcony view of the ocean.

 

I wonder if they will add a soundscape option, now that would intrigue me more.

 

Let's just hope the IT team are not the ones who man the regular RCCL website.

 

Will be very interesting to hear feedback.

[Coralc]

That's pretty funny about the virtual balcony railing, because people were unsettled. :D It makes sense.

 

We are looking forward to seeing how it looks on some future sailing. :)

[Bradiego]

We are booked in one of the virtual cabins on the first cruise on Navigator back from dry dock on Wednesday from Galveston. I am excited to see this new inside cabin, I will make sure to take pics and post.

[jmf123]

I wonder if they will add a soundscape option, now that would intrigue me more.

 

SConnolly, it appears that you'll have the sound of the seas in real-time. See below in (my) bold:

 

Charlie Miller of Control Group, the concept design company behind the virtual balconies, said the rooms will feature an 80-inch, high-definition display framed to appear like a real balcony, stretching nearly floor to ceiling and wall to wall, complete with the sound of the seas in real-time from the camera location. Another interesting detail is that the virtual balconies will include a banister for a feeling of safety.

 

Thanks for sharing this article, Spring Valley. I have friends sailing on the Quantum's Inaugural that are looking forward to their virtual balcony! :D

[Familygoboston]

Actually sea sickness was the FIRST thing I thought of- WDWs Mission to Mars was a puke fest because the motion and the "video" weren't synched.:eek:

Even if the feed has a<1 second lag, the view of the water from the camera is not located in the same place as the individual cabin, so the motion will be different. One thing I haven't seen- can you turn them "off", if you feel ill, or want to have a daytime nap? (like closing the curtain?)

 

I'll be curious to see how this will work in practice- looking forward to those first few reviews! :D

 

Ed: I see you can turn it on and off !

Edited February 3, 2014 by Familygoboston

[ahecht]

One thing I haven't seen- can you turn them "off", if you feel ill, or want to have a daytime nap? (like closing the curtain?)

From the first post:

The designers chose to give each room a remote control so the guests can turn the picture on and off and control the volume, but they cannot change views between forward and aft.

[riclop]

Thanks for sharing.

[Spring Valley]

It's too bad that you can't switch the views between the bow and aft cameras, that was the one thing I didn't like about an inside room was wondering what it was like outside and if we were in port in the morning.

 

It sure would be nice to watch TV on an 80" screen, but I think an inside room is a bit too small to get the full picture without your chair up against the opposite wall, would kinda like being in an I-MAX theater!:rolleyes:

 

Keith

[SConnolly]

SConnolly, it appears that you'll have the sound of the seas in real-time. See below in (my) bold:

 

Cool....

[Bigtex1622]

....the rooms will feature an 80-inch, high-definition display framed to appear like a real balcony, stretching nearly floor to ceiling and wall to wall,......Keith

 

 

Must be a real narrow room, if a 80 is wall to wall,

especially since it is on it's side.

 

 

:rolleyes:

[stones902]

I haven't read anything yet about turning the display off. Some people might not enjoy it or want to sleep in.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[LetsGetWet!]

I haven't read anything yet about turning the display off. Some people might not enjoy it or want to sleep in.

 

If you haven't read anything yet, you didn't read very closely! ;) From the OP:

 

The designers chose to give each room a remote control so the guests can turn the picture on and off and control the volume, but they cannot change views between forward and aft.

[stones902]

If you haven't read anything yet, you didn't read very closely! ;) From the OP:

 

 

Read it earlier on my cellphone. Obviously I missed that critical detail.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[ehfl]

A one second latency is really very high. In heavy swells, I can imagine this would cause some discomfort in those cabins unless you turned the image off.

[time4u2go]

It's too bad that you can't switch the views between the bow and aft cameras, that was the one thing I didn't like about an inside room was wondering what it was like outside and if we were in port in the morning.

 

It sure would be nice to watch TV on an 80" screen, but I think an inside room is a bit too small to get the full picture without your chair up against the opposite wall, would kinda like being in an I-MAX theater!:rolleyes:

 

Keith

 

Yea I don't understand why they don't provide that capability. It seems like it would be very little extra expense for them, since they already have both feeds available.

Edited February 4, 2014 by time4u2go

[LetsGetWet!]

Yea I don't understand why they don't provide that capability. It seems like it would be very little extra expense for them, since they already have both feeds available.

 

It was pretty clearly explained why they don't provide that capability - to keep from making the cabin occupants sick. As the bow is going up, the stern is going down, so if you're facing toward the bow and viewing the stern, the out-of-sync inputs from your senses have proven to be very unsettling.

[time4u2go]

It was pretty clearly explained why they don't provide that capability - to keep from making the cabin occupants sick. As the bow is going up, the stern is going down, so if you're facing toward the bow and viewing the stern, the out-of-sync inputs from your senses have proven to be very unsettling.

Well, yea, I saw that explanation. But all they would have to do is put up a sign "When you switch to camera B, the view you are seeing might not correspond to what you are feeling and may cause some motion issues." Or they could only allow switching to the alternate view when in port. At least let people decide for themselves.

[jo24]

I love the idea of the virtual balconies but for as long as I can, I would rather stick to actual balconies!

 

I hope someone posts photos and/or videos so that we can see!

[slvrbllt]

Well, yea, I saw that explanation. But all they would have to do is put up a sign "When you switch to camera B, the view you are seeing might not correspond to what you are feeling and may cause some motion issues." Or they could only allow switching to the alternate view when in port. At least let people decide for themselves.

 

Except I could see all kinds of people to say "This ain't gonna bother me!" And then the room steward is cleaning up lots of seasick rooms ;)

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Must be a real narrow room, if a 80 is wall to wall,

especially since it is on it's side.

 

 

:rolleyes:

My first thought also. (My second thought was "cool").

 

The dimensions for an 80" Sharp I found on Amazon...

80.3 x 12.8 x 49.6

 

That (hopefully) isn't close to "wall to wall" nor "floor to ceiling"

[zombiehunter]

Well, yea, I saw that explanation. But all they would have to do is put up a sign "When you switch to camera B, the view you are seeing might not correspond to what you are feeling and may cause some motion issues." Or they could only allow switching to the alternate view when in port. At least let people decide for themselves.

 

Lowest common denominator:

They can't do this because then they'd field 200 calls per cruise from people who don't get it or can't get the camera to switch back or can't remember which side of the boat the screen is facing or want to use it but can't figure out which button to push. Streamlining. Two hundred fewer calls means fewer wasted man hours means more time spent pampering us :)

[LetsGetWet!]

Lowest common denominator:

They can't do this because then they'd field 200 calls per cruise from people who don't get it or can't get the camera to switch back or can't remember which side of the boat the screen is facing or want to use it but can't figure out which button to push. Streamlining. Two hundred fewer calls means fewer wasted man hours means more time spent pampering us :)

Plus, it would entail extra hardware for every stateroom equipped with them. Right now there is a single feed, a dual feed would require a switch for the remote to be able to control, with dual feeds being wired into that switch. Since research showed that it does tend to make people sick, kind of silly to spend the extra money on dual feeds and an A/V switch for every cabin.

 

I don't see the lack of this generating many real complaints. After all, you don't see people in the REAL balcony rooms saying "Hey, I can only see forward (or aft, or starboard, or port) and I want the other views too!!" :D