A prototype installation of Super Mario Cart’s Cloudtop Cruise, for an augmented realty roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan.
UK company Architects of Air was approached by Universal Studios Japan with a request to design and build a prototype of an inflatable installation. We were invited to collaborate on this project, which faced a challenging eight-week timeline.
The inflatable prototype was to consist of a cluster of cloudlike shapes, inspired by the Mammatus cloud formations, and that could change their appearance through color. Aim of the prototype was to investigate a potential scalable application of this installation, to be developed as part of the scenery of an augmented reality roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan. A ride themed after Nintendo’s Mario Cart and one of the scenes of the computer game: Cloudtop Cruise.
Images of Nintendo's Super Mario Cart: the Cloudtop Scene.
We broke our process down in several key elements: conceptual design and modeling; material sampling; small scale prototyping and pressure-testing; projection mapping and illumination; mid-scale prototyping; and finally, large-scale prototyping. An intermediate and a final presentation were attended by a representative of Universal Studios Japan.
Our prototype helped Universal Studios Japan decide on a course of action regarding the final set-design and the construction methodology of the Cloudtop Cruise scene.
