Skip to main content

Go on the ride of your life with Six Flags' mixed reality roller coaster

Hold onto your seat belts: This ain’t your grandma’s roller coaster, nor is it your roller coaster, really. On Wednesday, Six Flags and Samsung announced a collaboration on a  new thriller. Nearly a year after debuting the first virtual reality roller coasters in North America — which featured the use of Samsung Gear VR on rides — the two companies are taking things a step further and offering a “mixed reality experience.”

It’s all contingent on the Gear VR’s passthrough camera functionality, which allows riders to see both the “real world” and their virtual experience simultaneously. Once riders get settled on the coaster, they will see a display overlay on the passthrough camera view showing data like the current status of weaponry, time codes, fuel cells, and a countdown clock. “Cresting the lift hill, a massive, swirling wormhole comes into view. As riders drop at high speeds, the mixed reality view changes to a completely immersive, virtual reality environment and a fighter spaceship cockpit materializes and envelops the riders into a tunnel of light,” Six Flags explains in its release. “At the bottom of the first hill, riders are launched into the middle of a space battle, coming under attack from flying drones firing lasers and missiles. After swinging through tight channels, narrowly dodging drones and artillery fire, riders are brought into one of three drone bays, each of which offer a completely different gaming experience and three different endings.”

A lot to read? Probably a lot to experience, too.

Recommended Videos

“Six Flags is proud to be partnering with Samsung to develop the newest, most innovative thrill ride experience in the theme park industry,” said Brett Petit, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “This mixed reality technology is truly groundbreaking and like nothing our guests have ever experienced.”

While the ride opens to the public on February 25 at Six Flags Magic Mountain and February 20 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, both theme parks are giving guests the opportunity to battle galactic enemies a bit early by way of a food drive. Every paid guest or season pass holder who selects to bring a full bag of non-perishable food items in support of regional food banks will be able to access the ride early.

“Our strategic partnership with Six Flags enables millions of consumers to experience virtual reality for the first time by bringing Gear VR to real roller coasters at theme parks across the country,” said Marc Mathieu, Samsung Electronics America’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We are always aiming to create immersive, never been done before experiences with our Samsung VR ecosystem as the focal point, so these new experiences at Six Flags are completely complementary to that key objective. We are thrilled to continue to work with Six Flags and bring VR to the mainstream.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
This HP Pavilion laptop is a steal at 55% off — hurry!
The HP Pavilion 16t laptop on a white background.

A dependable laptop is a necessity these days, whether you're a professional or a student. If your device is due for a replacement, we highly recommend going for the HP Pavilion 16t, especially now that it's on sale with a 55% discount from HP itself. From its original price of $1,200, it's down to only $530 for massive savings of $670. We're not sure how long you've got until this offer expires, so if you don't want to miss out on one of the best laptop deals we've seen recently, you need to push forward with your purchase as soon as you can.

Why you should buy the HP Pavilion 16t laptop

Read more
AMD on AM4 socket longevity, AM5, and the future
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D socketed in a motherboard.

When AMD launched its Ryzen processors on a newly minted AM4 socket in 2017, it was a game changing moment. Finally, AMD was bringing back real competition to Intel. But while Ryzen was killing off the relevance of the venerable quad core, it was also introducing a new idea of socket longevity that would see gamers able to evolve their PCs over time, rather than ripping their guts out every few years.

AM4 went on to be AMD's flagship socket for more than half a decade. But while team red has since moved on to newer sockets and CPUs, AM4's sheer lifespan has become one of its most defining features. It's become something expectant from AMD fans for socket AM5 and beyond.

Read more
Every macOS version in order: from the first public beta to macOS 15
Apple MacBook Air 15 M4 front angled view showing display and keyboard.

Apple’s macOS operating system has changed a lot over the last 25 years, with new features and designs coming and going as the decades have passed. Even the name has been adjusted, starting out as Mac OS X before shortening to OS X and eventually settling on macOS. The world the original version inhabited back in 2000 is very different to today.

Including the initial public beta, Apple has released 22 versions of the Mac operating system so far, with new launches becoming an annual occurrence. But it wasn’t always this way, and there have been some fascinating updates and developments in the time since the first version appeared. Let’s see how macOS has changed over the years.

Read more