Thursday, Sept. 4, 1997 | 10:56 a.m.
You've got to hand it to the marketing wizzes at Caesars Palace.
On a day when much of Las Vegas was under water, they arranged to bring in Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. Or, more precisely, the head of Neptune.
The media-event arrival was staged as a construction update for the multimillion-dollar "Race for Atlantis" motion simulator attraction, scheduled to open in December at the new wing of The Forum Shops at Caesars.
The 8-foot, 2-ton head completes a 24-foot statue that will stand in a lobby where attraction riders will enter the state-of-the-art spherical theater created by the Toronto-based Imax Corp.
"We're hitting the backstretch on the development, design and building of 'Race for Atlantis,'" said Alfred Newman, senior vice president for Imax. "We wanted to present a world-class ride to Vegas and we've accomplished that with this state-of-the-art attraction. It's the next generation of the motion simulation ride."
Neither Imax officials nor their partners in the project, ITT/Caesars World, would disclose the value of the project, estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. They said they did not sink as much into the project as Disney and Universal Studios did with their top-draw attractions.
The experience is described as the first three-dimensional motion simulator ever built. The highlight of the attraction is the staging of a 3-D computer-animated chariot race through the legendary kingdom of Atlantis to determine the ruler of the land for the next millennium.
Riders will wear electronic headsets that not only will enhance the six-channel sound system but use infrared sensors that coordinate the motion simulation with the images projected on the dome, which will have an 82-foot diameter.
More than 30 production specialists, including 20 computer artists, have been working on the film for more than a year and a half. More than 10,000 feet of film shot over 2,500 hours were required to complete the production -- which lasts about four minutes in its completed form.
The theater will have four 27-passenger motion-simulator bases with a total capacity of about 1,000 riders per hour. The partners haven't determined a price for the attraction, but estimate it will be between $7 and $10.
"The domed 3-D simulator and the special E3D electronic headsets will allow passengers to use their peripheral vision," said "Atlantis" executive producer Barry Kemper. "Images will appear out in front of you and things will go over your shoulder."
Kemper said the new attraction will up the ante on motion-simulator technology, outdoing Universal Studio's "Back to the Future -- The Ride" attraction, which also was developed by Imax and directed by "Atlantis" director Arish Fyzee.
"There's never been a 3-D ride of this scope," said Kemper, who led a tour through the theater construction site and explained how the technology will work.
Although the technology has never been brought together on any other Imax project, Kemper is confident all the puzzle pieces will fit over the next three months. He said the entire project has been developed in a miniature form in a California studio. When all the components begin arriving for the Caesars attraction, assembly will be a first-ever experience.
Kemper isn't anticipating any delays like the ones hampering the Las Vegas Hilton's "Star Trek: The Experience" attraction. Technological glitches have been blamed for a six-month delay in the opening of that simulator ride.
"I don't know what's happening at Hilton, but I do know that these are very challenging projects that raise the bar on the motion-simulation attraction," said Kemper.
"Race for Atlantis" probably won't be a race for completion with the Hilton project. Hilton officials said Wednesday they hope to open their attraction by early November and that details could be announced as early as next week. Caesars officials say their venue will be open before Christmas.
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