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Ark Encounter Shares Biblical Truths With New Virtual Reality Attraction

Photo from Ark Encounter Instagram

Ark Encounter Shares Biblical Truths With New Virtual Reality Attraction

By Cooper Dowd, Staff Writer

The creationist theme park The Ark Encounter’s most recent project involves incorporating a $3 million virtual reality that will allow guests to travel back to Noah’s Ark and the Flood to experience a representation of the historical event in Genesis.

The theme park officially opened its brand-new virtual reality theater called the “Truth Traveller” and plans to show the first VR experience, “A Flood of Reality,” to audiences on Monday, August 31.  

“It is a very high-tech experience,” Answers in Genesis CEO Ken Ham told The Christian Post. “The seats are the highest-tech seats you can get. When you put on the virtual reality glasses and then the program is underway, you actually feel like you are flying.”

Although the theme park does not have any rides in the traditional sense, Ham said the experience created using virtual reality technology feels like “an actual ride.” 

“The program itself starts at the Ark Encounter and then takes you back in time,” Ham said. “You see them building the ark. You fly around the ark and you actually see the floodwaters and you see the ark at the end with a rainbow. You fly through the ark as well and see animals in the cages.  It gives you a sense of being there and experiencing it.” 

Unlike Universal Studios or other virtual rides at theme parks, Ham notes the distinct difference that The Ark Encounter’s virtual reality provides for viewers.

“It is different from some of the [other parks] you go to where you sit in the seats and you have everything on the screen,” Ham explained. “This is within the virtual reality glasses. It even gives you more of a virtual reality experience.”

The 11-minute show also ends with a gospel presentation.  In addition to the park entrance fee, the timed-ticket will cost $14.99.  Ham said this is to help offset the cost of constructing the new building.  

“It was a supporter who is a businessman who funded all this, which is why there is actually an upcharge for it because we are paying back the construction cost and all the rest of it,” Ham said. “It is a $3 million experience.”

Ham is passionate about bringing the biblical truth of Creation to people. The virtual reality attraction provided Ark Encounter with another way to share the gospel.  The organization worked with several companies to produce high-quality animation for audience members. Answers in Genesis worked with MediaMation, which made the motion seats, and GrooveJones, which created the program’s animation and technology structure. 

Despite the current pandemic, Ham said that the first show, “A Flood of Reality,” is just the beginning and that they plan to make more shows to boost the park’s already abnormally successful attendance.

“It just costs a lot to get one show going and working. We plan on doing future shows as well,” he said. “It costs like $1 million or more to do programming for a show and everything else.”

“[There are] days where we are up to 70% or 80% of last year’s attendance,” Ham added.  

The team at Answers in Genesis are leaders in the use of technology related to sharing biblical truth.  Technology also appears at their other park, Answers in Genesis’ Creation Museum, where guests experience a $1.2 million planetarium that uses laser projection. Ham said the virtual reality project for The Ark Encounter was first proposed 18 months ago and took 12 months to be ready for the public. 

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.