Cryptidium is a semi-live-action role-play experience designed as a tool to help explore questions of tech integration and spatial distribution for theme park queues. Prompted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, discussions in themed entertainment industry have shifted towards re-evaluating traditional theme park design conventions necessitating high crowd densities. One of these conventions is the traditional queue structure, having park guests stand in close quarters in a switchback line that snakes its way through an enclosed show building. However, this structure is not easily done away with as themed queues often do significant work setting the genre, tone, and backstory for their accompanying ride. Consequently, the industry has begun examining methods of virtual queueing (such as Disney’s Fast Pass), while seeking new ways to integrate a narrative or diegetic experience spread throughout the park. Cryptidium was embarked upon with the hopes of exploring the question of how one might structure such a distributed diegetic queue, with a particular consideration for ubiquitous tech solutions such as phone-based AR. Seen as a design tool for uncovering broader principles, the prototype here presented was developed iteratively with close participant involvement, incrementally approaching a more satisfying experience, while design journalling and ethnographic-style observation of participants was employed to elucidate and track attitudes and trends that emerged in process. The final prototype, though a far cry from fully implemented AR queue experience, nevertheless makes use of various techniques to tackle embodied aspects of the question, such as the use of functional props (phones), reflex-based challenges to simulate timed photo events, and physical displacement (walking between distributed locations). Together, the combination of verbally and visually presented themed materials with physically enacted interactivity yielded concrete new lessons on how to structure a themed queue with ubiquitous technological solutions.

Image 1: Ride exterior concept art
Cryptidium was designed as a distributed queue. Though the associated ride building has a waiting lobby with seating, it has no rigid line and guests are invited to spend their wait searching the park for cryptids to photograph. 

Image 2: AR concept art
Phone format concept art was sent directly to participant devices. Each waypoint had a general environment image, AR “filter” image, and AR “triggered” cryptid image.  

Image 3: Testing sessions photo
Participants were challenged to take photos of a hand rapidly opening and closing to simulate timing a picture just right to catch a cryptid. If successful, they were sent AR concept art directly to their device, as if they’d taken the picture.