The purpose of this thesis is to look at the potential for interactive devices to enhance the story of future theme park attractions. The most common interactive theme park rides are about game-based interaction, competition, and scoring, rather than about story, character, and plot. Research into cognitive science, interactivity, narrative, immersion, user interface, theming and other fields of study illuminated some potentially useful guidelines for creating compelling experiences for park guests. In order to test some of these ideas, an interactive device was constructed and tested with study subjects. Each study subject watched a video recording of an existing theme park ride while using the device, and then filled out a survey concerning their experience. The results revealed how subjects view character-driven interactive devices, how a device should be blended into a ride sequence, how subjects think interactivity and responsiveness should be structured in regards to themselves and the ride, and begins to hint at their motivations for using interactive devices.

Manufactured, experiential, consumption environments are increasingly mimicking the design techniques and principles on display within the Disney theme parks. One particular example of an experiential consumption environment which has been influenced by the Disney-style approach to business is the shopping mall. These commercialized attractions offer a distant alternative, and distraction, to everyday life. The theoretical concept of Disneyization offers insight into what visitors to these manufactured experiential consumption destinations are (assumed to be) searching for - and in-turn receiving. This thesis specifically focuses on 1) the development and design of the New Zealand shopping mall by assessing the extent to which identified elements of the Disney theme parks are replicated within the country's shopping destinations 2) the degree to which experiential consumption environments are being developed within New Zealand. Based upon the review of completed fieldwork, the 'System of Objects' theory proposed by Baudrillard and image association perspectives of Eco are added to the theoretical analysis as a complimentary aside to the Disneyization concept. These works also further highlight the link between experiential consumption environments and those who visit them.

Cette thèse tente d’analyser différents phénomènes observables à partir d’un sujet apparemment délimité de manière claire dans le temps et l’espace : un spectacle touristique au sein d’un parc d’attractions à Taïwan, mettant en scène des instruments de musique dits traditionnels. Cette délimitation dans le temps et l'espace se produit à plusieurs niveaux — c’est-à-dire dans plusieurs échelles de temps et d’espace — d’un plus global (Taïwan) à un plus local (la scène) en passant par un niveau intermédiaire (le parc). Mais avant tout, ce sujet se situe dans l’espace limité d’une monographie — cette thèse — et dans son temps propre, celui des enquêtes de terrain, et de l’écriture. Dans un premier temps, nous tentons de comprendre notre condition de chercheur, de prendre en compte que ce que nous allons produire, la thèse, comme ne pouvant être totalement neutre. Le but ici est de garder à l'esprit que tout récit est producteur d'un discours et par conséquent subjectif.Ce récit producteur d’un discours nous amène, ensuite, à reconsidérer l’histoire de Taïwan. Il s’agit dans cette partie de comprendre, par le biais d’une analyse de l’historiographie à Taïwan, dans quelle histoire de Taïwan se situe le sujet de notre recherche.Dans la troisième partie, nous nous attachons à comprendre un phénomène non spécifique à Taïwan, le tourisme, afin de mieux cerner les particularités de celui pratiqué sur l’île, puis de celui pratiqué au sein du parc d’attractions, lieu du spectacle. Ce lieu « hors sol » qu’est le parc, nous tentons de l’aborder comme une hétérotopie, où temps et espaces s’affranchissent des échelles naturelles.La quatrième partie de la thèse se concentre sur le spectacle et les instruments de musique, ceux mis en scène mais aussi ceux répertoriés par les ethnomusicologues, afin de pouvoir analyser ce qui sont présents ou non sur la scène, et les raisons de ces choix pour enfin nous focaliser sur les « champs » du spectacle en présence. / This thesis attempts to analyse various phenomena observed from a topic apparently clearly delimited in time and space: an on-stage performance in a touristic theme park in Taiwan featuring musical instruments presented as traditional ones. Such delimitation in time and space, presents itself on different levels, from a more global –Taiwan- to a more local – the stage- through an intermediate one – the park, but also in the process of writing this thesis.Firstly, we will try to understand our condition as a researcher, to consider that what we produce, the thesis, as something which cannot be completely neutral. The goal here is to keep in mind that every narrative produces a discourse and, thus, is subjective.Such narrative brings us, in a second moment, to rethink Taiwan’s history. In this part, the goal is to understand, through the analysis of Taiwan’s historiography, what is the specific Taiwan’s history that take place now in Taiwan. In other words: its context not solely on a local scale, but also in a global scale.In the third part of this thesis, we endeavour on the understanding of a phenomenon not specific to Taiwan, Tourism, to better understand the specificity of such practice within the island, and finally of such practice in the amusement park: the place of our show. Because we consider this park as a "hors sol" place, we try to approach it as a heterotopia, where differents times and spaces coexist.The fourth part of the thesis focus on the on-stage performance and the musical instruments on stage, but also those listed by ethnomusicologists, in order to analyse what is present on the scene, what is not, and the reasons for these choices.These different levels of focus required for a more comprehensive understanding of the subject, lead us in the fifth part in the hermeneutics of this show — show that we understand as a discourse — where we observe the formation of a syncretic indigenous culture in Taiwan, with highlight the "fields" (in Bourdieu’s sense) of the show involved.

Bien souvent considérée comme un art immatérial, la littérature offre pourtant des traces bien visibles de son existence. Les maisons d'écrivains, les musées et les expositions littéraires ainsi que les parcs à thème constituent des espaces qui matérialisent la littérature. L'objet de notre thèse sera d'étudier ces différents dispositifs et d'interroger leurs liens avec la manière même de concevoir la littérature. / Often classified as an immaterial art, literature however offers real and visible tracks of its existence as evidenced by writers’ houses, museums and literary exhibitions spreading all over France. The increasing number of theme parks and the development of literary theme parks offer new interesting perspectives. In a multidisciplinary approach involving cultural history, sociology of literary practices and literary theories, the aim of this research work is to question the representations of literature conveyed by these literary spaces. This reflection results from the following paradox: what can be shown to evoke an art of words, only accessible in the act of reading?

En tant que première destination touristique aux Etats-Unis, les parcs à thèmes Disney représentent un phénomène culturel important et une opportunité unique d’évaluer les médias de masse à l’aune de leur influence sur les usages et les conduites. L’analyse se propose d’interroger le concept d’imachination (imagineering), qui désigne chez Disney la conception des environnements thématiques et narratifs des parcs. Au travers de l’examen des protocoles de création des parcs, il s’agit de déterminer comment leurs concepteurs réunissent dans l’environnement certains critères de la narrativité ainsi que les récits qu’ils s’attachent à y raconter. Ainsi, le parc offre l’image d’un monde fictionnel qui, reflétant sous une forme objective certaines valeurs portées par la société américaine, décrit les conditions d’une bonne entente entre le visiteur et son environnement. Investi par le moyen de récits d’attributs psychologiques (souvenirs, valeurs), l’espace du parc oeuvre à la répartition des tâches entre le paysage et l’usager : en assignant un rôle à l’un et à l’autre, l’espace narratif soumet leurs interactions à un script préalable, si bien que les conduites et les émotions du second y relèvent d’une performance.En même temps qu’ils décrivent implicitement les conditions du bon usage du parc, les récits servent à la mobilisation d’acteurs distincts, et, ce faisant, à l’élaboration d’un système sociotechnique : de grands récits de progrès technique et économique ont ainsi permis à la compagnie de s’attacher le concours de grandes corporations américaines et d’obtenir pour son complexe floridien un statut juridique particulier, donnant le jour à un système de production inédit. / As the number-one tourist destination in the United States, the Disney theme parks are asignificant cultural phenomenon and present a unique opportunity to evaluate mass communication inlight of its influence on the user’s behavior and practices. This study aims to provide an analysis of “Imagineering”—that is, the design of narrative environments in the Disney-branded theme parks. By examining the design processes at work in the parks, the analysis shows what stories theso-called “Imagineers” intend to tell as well as how these stories fulfill the requirements of narratives in the very environment of the parks. The park thus presents the image of a fictional world that reflects the values of American society in an objective form, and in so doing provides the conditions for conformity between the user and the environment. As the repository of subjective and psychological traits (memories, values), the narrative space of the park distributes the tasks at hand between the visitor and the environment. By assigning each its role, the park subjects their interaction to a pre-established script—so well that the visitor’s behaviorsand emotions take on the appearance of performances. Besides providing implicit instructions for the proper use of the parks, narratives also serve to mobilize various social agents and in doing so create new sociotechnical systems. Grand narratives of technical and economic progress have thus helped the company secure the collaboration of prominent American corporations as well as a specific legal status for its Florida resort, giving rise to a new production system.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elisio.pdf: 3959165 bytes, checksum: 4ec0ca923cd2632303d908bad9804b19 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-13 / The transformations and changes in the market, in politics and in the economy of Brazil have had a historical and often an unknown path which is little publicized by the responsible media. The management partnership between public and private has been increasingly present in societies where the State has adopted policies of moderate intervention. The liberal economic policies, the insistent encouragement to entrepreneurship and free enterprise, deregulating processes, partnerships and political agreements implemented, constitute and shape the main support bases of the contemporary economic scenario. Allied to this, the economy under the aegis of continuous strategic expansion of wealth has produced in Brazil the probing and exploitation of niche markets, formerly unnoticed. As a result of these facts, it is observed that in recent decades a progressive factual growth in the leisure and entertainment sector, from the planning and creation of dozens of organizations and companies aiming at the exploitation of such activities. The contextualization of the subject partnership management will be based on the study and analysis of a practical experience in management permission model implemented at Cidade da Criança s Park in São Bernardo do Campo, the Great ABC region. In the meantime there is the chance to identify patterns of managerial actions and forms of organizational planning that sign some aspects, features and capabilities that underlie the functional feasibility or not of this practical scenario and real partnership. / As transformações e modificações ocorridas no mercado, nas políticas e na economia do Brasil possuem um histórico e um trajeto muitas vezes desconhecidos e pouco divulgados pelos meios responsáveis a este fim. A parceria em gestão entre o público e o privado tem estado cada vez mais presente nas sociedades onde o Estado tem adotado políticas de intervenção moderada. As políticas econômicas liberais, o insistente incentivo ao empreendedorismo e à livre iniciativa, os processos de desburocratização, as parcerias e acordos políticos levados à prática, constituem e formam as principais bases de sustentação do cenário econômico contemporâneo. Aliado a isto, a economia sob a égide estratégica da expansão contínua de riquezas tem produzido no Brasil a sondagem e aproveitamento de nichos de mercado, outrora despercebidos. Em decorrência destes fatos, observa-se nas últimas décadas um crescimento progressivo factual no setor de lazer e entretenimento, a partir do planejamento e criação de dezenas de organizações e empresas objetivando a exploração destas atividades. A contextualização do tema gestão em parceria se dará a partir do estudo e análise de uma experiência prática de gerenciamento em modelo de Permissão implementada no parque Cidade da Criança em São Bernardo do Campo, região do Grande ABC Paulista. Neste meio tempo, surge a chance de identificar padrões de ações gerenciais e formas de planejamento organizacional que sinalizem aspectos, características e capacidades que fundamentem a viabilidade funcional ou não desta parceria em cenário prático e real.

Does God exist? Can we know for sure? What might it mean to know this? Furthermore what might it look like to make works of art while also seeking to find answers to these questions? This thesis details my personal experiences growing up in a world steeped in postmodernism and my move to answer such questions while looking to develop a meaningful, clear worldview and body of work. I have turned my focus on specific episodes in my life, which significantly illuminate a progression of thinking and experience. Together these thoughts and experiences have become the impetus for both questions and propositions embedded within the long haul of my work culminating in my thesis exhibition.

Atmospheric theming is the use of the sensory experience in connection to a theme. The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of atmospherics with theming and their effects on customer behavior in food and beverage operations of a theme park. The official research questions developed for this study include: Does the impact of the authenticity of atmospheric theming influence an effect on revisit intention? Does the type of theme (land's theme or venue's theme) influence the effect of visitor revisit intention? These questions guided the current research in previously non-evaluated fields of study. This study used the Mehrabian–Russel (M-R) model to create a new research model. In the current study, atmospheric theming was the stimuli, emotional value was the emotional response, and visitor revisit intentions was the behavioral intention. Restaurant image was added to the model to obtain a cognitive reason.The results from the multiple regression indicated that all hypotheses were accepted. Restaurant image had a positive influence on both authenticity variables, and both authenticity variables had a positive influence on emotional value. Finally, emotional value was found to have a positive influence on revisit intention. These results indicated that atmospheric theming influenced revisit intention through emotional value. Furthermore, the results indicated that when it comes to the different types of themes within a venue, as indicated in the second research question, the venue's theme has a stronger influence on the emotional value than the land's theme.