Triotech Focuses on ROI for the Trade, Escape for Your Game Room Players

Canadian Builders of Motion Simulators Continues to Redefine
What Fun Is By Providing Multi-Sensory, Content-Driven Experiences

As the world of entertainment looks toward a more and more immersive experience to continue to draw customers, there’s one company that has been ahead of the curve.

Triotech, the Canadian firm specializing in motion rides, has been providing immersive, mind-boggling experiences to its customers since the company was founded in 1999. Its Typhoon motion simulator video, launched in 2009, has been charting high – often #1 –– on RePlay’s Players’ Choice chart for years.

In addition, Triotech collaborates with some of the biggest entertainers in the nation, including Knott’s Berry Farm, Madame Tussauds and other recognizable, industry-leading names. But recently, they’ve turned their focus toward the FEC market, and with great success.

“During the last three years, we’ve done a lot of major projects, but while we were doing these, quietly and steadily in the background we’ve been installing dozens and dozens of the small Dark Ride interactive theaters,” said Christian Martin, VP of Marketing. “These are scalable from four seats and up. Most of them are going into FECs. A lot of it has been repeat business, which I see as the surest sign of satisfaction. Most of our clients come back wanting to buy another.”

Ernest Yale, CEO and Founder of Triotech, has always been one to push the envelope. The innovator has unveiled a string of captivating experiences that continue to add value to each Triotech machine. Whether customers are escaping from terrifying werewolves or flying over San Francisco, the company is all about utter immersion. Whether transforming a realistic experience into something unbelievable or taking something fantastical and making it into a terror-inducing reality, Yale’s company understands what it takes to get that “wow” moment.

In 2006, Triotech took the next step in its ambitious plan to dominate the motion simulator market: it unveiled the creation of its own production studio, moving into the realm of content creation. The Montreal-based 3D animation studio augments the company’s hardware offerings and adds unique, ever-flowing content to its motion rides. The company has over 20 films in its library already, and promises new and old customers alike that the content will keep coming, free of charge.

“The theater is the housing; it’s really about the content,” said David Swafford, U.S. Sales. “We continue to create content, which enhances each of our locations.”

“Anyone who invests in one of our systems knows it’s not just a one-off,” continued Martin. “We continue to service the games and update our bank of content, releasing cutting-edge adventures to keep the players coming back.”

Swafford and Martin both praise their company’s long-lasting relationships with customers. It’s also what’s behind the newest FEC interest in Triotech products, which according to Swafford has always been there but has been increasingly apparent as the FEC market experiences its boom.

“We’ve always been in FECs, and have always had that customer top of mind,” Swafford said. “Everything we’ve done at Triotech has to fit a wide range of ages and cultures. We have a lot of success here in the U.S., but also have products all over the world, and no matter where our machines are the content comes from us.”

That content needs to fit two important criteria, according to Swafford; content needs to be action-packed to fully utilize the extra-dimensional effects of a Triotech ride, but also needs to be family friendly and widely appealing.

“We’ve made a commitment to this industry,” Swafford said. “In spite of the enormous process it takes to develop new content, we’re dedicated.”

That doesn’t mean that Triotech’s content is always rainbows and daisies though. One of the most exciting projects the company completed this year was an installation at the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas: Fear The Walking Dead Survival. This interactive attraction is new territory for Triotech, which developed, installed and co-owns the attraction. Visitors find themselves in a makeshift military base, and as the experience progresses, rumors of a zombie invasion quickly turn into a terrifying reality.

“We’re all about getting people out of their home, bringing them together and immersing them in something exceptional,” Martin said, “Most people will be talking, screaming, elbowing each other. It’s all about interactivity, a social experience that can’t be found anywhere else.”

The company’s numerous success stories within the FEC market keep it focused on larger installations, but Swafford says they haven’t turned their back on the street operator.

“I would say 85 percent of our Dark Rides are in FECs,” Swafford said. “But there are some ambitious operators who are starting to put them into high-traffic venues on the street. We want people to know that there are success stories. People think you can’t bring this product to small town, middle America. But these don’t need millions of visitors to be successful. We’ve seen operators get great ROI in locations with less than 75,000 visitors a year.”

Swafford and Martin teased a new product that could better serve these smaller, street locations as well, holding back the tantalizing details for another chat with RePlay.

“We do have some coin-operated visions of a product that you won’t see this year at IAAPA, but look for it in 2018!” Swafford said.

When asked what the future also holds for Triotech, both Martin and Swafford had ambitious and optimistic ideas for the company. The duo said virtual reality was in their R&D sights, but didn’t think the technology would have much of an effect on their current offerings.

“The challenge with VR is once you put on the HMD, you’re kind of in your own bubble,” Martin said. “The other issues are operational in nature, the cost of the gear, hygiene issues, throughput and speed. What we offer is more of an augmented reality. It’s not that we don’t believe in VR, we just want to fix these issues first. We could just tack VR into our current attractions, but would it add anything? It has to make sense. It’s all about ROI for our customers and we don’t want to sell them something VR just because it’s hot right now.”

For Triotech, the mission is to provide a money-making product to their customers, a product that allows guests to escape reality into a new dimension where anything can happen. The company has been doing just that since it was founded, and will continue to do so with or without the latest tech fads.

“I get calls from people all the time saying they had more fun in a Dark Ride then at Disneyland,” Swafford concluded. “And the lines are definitely a lot shorter!”

Learn more at www.trio-tech.com.