The minds behind Universal Parks & Resorts’ attractions are looking to merge the theme park ride with video games — possibly with a
Harry Potter theme. At least that’s what a patent dubbed Video Game Ride from NBCUniversal subsidiary Universal City Studios LLC is trying to do.
Specifically, the patent is aimed at creating a vehicle "configured to receive respective inputs from one or more riders via the vehicle interface circuitry, and wherein the respective inputs are related to one or more game features of a game environment; and a game controller configured to receive information from the vehicle interface circuitry related to the respective inputs; and provide instructions to modify the game environment based on at least one of the respective inputs.”
The patent uses the example of a "wizard-themed game" that could have riders use different wands associated with characters and use those wands at specific moments to score points, competing with opposing teams or to accomplish a joint goal. "In certain embodiments, the score input may include input from external sensors that capture player motion, such as wand motion, and provide the motion characteristics as input to a score determination algorithm. If the wand motion is associated with a particular spell that is an effective spell for the game, the player's score may be updated to indicate a successful 'freezing spell' or other spell has been cast," said the patent.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2016/08/universal-patent-hints-at-video-game-ride-using.html