Universal Parks & Resorts’ theme park attractions in Orlando and beyond may see non-fungible tokens (NFT) play a role in the future.
The theme park operator filed a patent for a “Systems and Method for Customized Non-Fungible Tokens Corresponding to an Amusement Park Attraction.” The technology appears to be a way to enhance guest experiences that have to do with the more interactive parts of a theme park.
Why this matters: New patents provide insight into what theme park companies are brainstorming to draw more guests. That can result in more visitation and, therefore, a bump in business for Orlando’s dominant $75 billion tourism and travel industry.
Theme park attractions may have an element where the experience’s quality and/or actions could be determined by the user’s performance, according to the patent. The patent described guests using an object‚ such as a toy sword, wizard staff or wand, to perform certain actions and activate a special effect. That attraction may include taking an image of the guest performing the action and/or convert that digital data into an NFT, which could be used or traded later.
“For example, NFTs may be bought or sold in marketplaces or utilized to grant access to other experiences. For example, once authenticated (e.g., via a console, computer, website, or the like), an NFT acquired in a particular amusement park experience may allow access to new material (e.g., a new level or character) in a video game, which may have some relationship (e.g., thematically) to the amusement park experience,” added the patent.
Executives with Universal were not available for comment.
A personalized guest experience is more important these days, especially coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, per a study by Raleigh, North Carolina-based digital marketing agency Linchpin SEO. The global amusement parks industry is expected to decline from $73.5 billion in 2019 to $71.6 billion in 2023, emphasizing the need for theme parks to invest more into heightening the guest experience, the study said.
Universal Orlando Resort — owned and operated by Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) — includes some of Central Florida’s top attractions, based on Orlando Business Journal research. Universal Orlando typically draws a combined 20 million-plus annual tourists through its Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida theme parks and its Volcano Bay water park in Orlando.
Universal also owns the CityWalk dining/shopping/entertainment complex, several area hotels and more than 700 acres for development off of Universal Boulevard, where it is building its Epic Universe theme park. The new park is huge for Central Florida, as it will create up to 14,000 new permanent theme park jobs along with thousands of construction and vendor opportunities.
Here’s a look at Universal’s other recently filed patents:
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