Royal Caribbean has upped the ante as far as ocean-going tech with its latest ship, 'the Quantum of the Seas.'
The brand's Quantum class of ships has consistently pushed the boundaries as far as ship-board technology. The newest addition to the fleet is a vessel for emerging technology that hasn't even seen much play on land: robo-screens.
Beyond "sounds fun" features such as at-sea skydiving, convertible sports spaces (for basketball, roller skating, bumper cars, etc), and a giant pod that raises guests 350 feet from the deck, the true excitement comes from the giant set of robotic screens that allow for complete customization of the entertainment experience in a rear-facing theater.
The screens - which have a crisp 12K resolution - sit on giant arms, allowing for an immersive experience to be delivered in a space at the rear of the ship. The entire environment can be altered due to the giant size and flexible construction of these robotic, screen-toting arms.
"Visto-rama" is the name of the robotic experience, and it is the centerpiece of the Two70° theater experience. The theater also includes lifts and other theater tech essentials to offer a full production capability completely enhanced by technology. As of yet, this experience is only available on the high seas, and contributes to the continued arms race on the "bigger, better, flashier" cruise ship battlefield.
UK TV personality Jason Bradbury - never one to mince words - breaks it down in this video, which has a handy photo-realistic animation of life on the ship.
Royal Carribean produced this other video, which focuses exclusively on the Two70° theater's robotic screens from ABB Robotics. And yes, the company does say that this "is the most complex robotics project on the planet right now," outside of the Mars rover project. So there.
Read more on the ship's technology in the interactive media magazine here.