Is building an edutainment space-themed park a good idea?

Question

I am ideating on building a space park to promote STEAM subjects. It will be built with both physical infrastructure and also using AR, VR and MR. Think of it as a place where students not only have fun but learn about STEAM subjects and relate those to the practical applications in the wild.This idea is not new. But the vision is to try to scale it commercially(once the initial project is complete) which most of the government funded parks don't do.Would like your views on this approach of blending edutainment park with STEAM subjects. Would you encourage/support this type of project? If not, why not? If you were to build this, what would you build? Any other feedback, suggestions, comments and advice?Also, I am open for collaborating on this project with others. If you want to join me on this journey then do send me an email: ajit.edfintech@gmail.comI am in the UK, but also open to working with people from outside UK.

brudgers · Accepted Answer

A theme park sounds like an excellent way to make a small fortune. With the caveat that you start with a large fortune. The problem is it's a real-estate play in an area that is subject to changing public tastes and the ups and downs of changing economic cycles.
The long surviving theme parks are the front end for larger organizations. Universal Studios in Orlando. Sea World as marine mammal research centers. And of course Disney's lands and worlds.
Sea World however illustrates the challenges of changing public tastes...or opinions. What seemed like evergreen content is turning out not to be.
Do you have enough money to survive an event like the pandemic?

ArtWomb · Answer

If it's not fun, kids get bored very quickly. Even a classic "egg drop" experiment with masking tape, balloons and cardboard is more engaging than the artificial.
State of the art in edutainment looks like the upcoming Crayola IDEAworks exhibit at Philly's Franklin Institute. The focus isn't on "the science". But creativity, experimentation, problem-solving and design. It's universal. Multicultural. Multi-generation.
And yes, it's a branded experience. With the obligatory gift shop where they expect to sell plenty of crayons, colored pencils and magic markers. I recall being in London when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter just opened and the waitlist for tix was like six months ;)
https://www.fi.edu/exhibit/crayola-ideaworks

spazx · Answer

The Christa McAuliffe center has a neat spaceship simulation where students perform different crew roles onboard, doing different hands-on scientific tasks. I went in 6th grade on a field trip, and my job was capturing (a computer mini-game), reassembling (it was like snap circuits), and relaunching the probe. Is this something like your idea?

mimixco · Answer

VR has been "the next great thing" for at least 20 years but still isn't popular with the mainstream because of the vision and dizziness problems it creates for a lot of people, and also because the UI's have been generally terrible. I think these problems would be exacerbated by having an audience of children. It's possible that the VR stuff would get in the way of learning (at this stage in its development and acceptance) rather than contribute to it, IMHO.DisneyQuest, Google Daydream, and Oculus have all been failures -- and DisneyQuest had Disney content and branding and was aimed squarely at kids. Also, you don't see much VR content on Steam and it's a non-starter on Xbox. These don't bode well for wide adoption of any VR product with kids.

timthorn · Answer

Is your concept different to the National Space Centre? https://spacecentre.co.uk/

kleer001 · Answer

Science based edutainment facilities are a well established business venture.
Best to talk to established ones if you don't want to lose your shirt reinventing the wheel.
Here's one of the oldest:
https://www.exploratorium.edu/about-us
Here's another one:
https://www.thetech.org/
Unless you've already done so?

PaulHoule · Answer

I like the idea of a 'VR park' where there is a changing repitoire of experiences, particularly approaching contact sports in intensity.It is a major hassle though getting people suited up, you would go through gear pretty fast, and if people were taking falls without the direct use of their eyes some might get hurt.

giantg2 · Answer

In the US there's Space Camp. Not sure of the details of it, but it's not an amusement park.

emteycz · Answer

Don't bet on governments solving the pandemic.