Princess Cruises' Eagle Quest Alaska

Princess Cruises and Groove Jones collaboratively introduced Eagle Quest Alaska. This immersive, controller-free flight simulation experience transports guests into the majestic skies of Southeast Alaska aboard multiple cruise ships. Powered by computer vision and full body motion tracking, this experience invites travelers of all ages to embody a bald eagle—flapping, tilting, and diving with only their own body movements, with absolutely no physical controllers required .

Anchored by a custom, markerless body-tracking system, the experience begins with a quick T-pose calibration that ensures instant and intuitive engagement. Behind the scenes, Groove Jones employed array convolution smoothing techniques to translate natural human motion into fluid flight, while a thoughtfully delayed and offset camera simulation further elevates the realism by recreating cinematic flight perspectives.

Visually, players navigate through gorgeously rendered Alaskan terrain—rivers, snowy valleys, evergreen forests—and encounter delightful visual Easter eggs. These include dog sled teams, salmon launching from rivers, grizzly bears fishing, and cultural totem poles that spark guest curiosity and reinforce regional storytelling. The gamified structure motivates exploration: players fly through Bronze, Silver, and Gold rings, which award escalating points—and if they find a hidden Gold ring late in the course, the environment transforms into a night scene lit by northern lights, culminating in a dramatic glide over a Princess cruise ship at the bay’s mouth.

Under the hood, the eagle’s animation is a marvel of realism. Groove Jones’ artists studied real eagle flight, implementing detailed feather rigging, dynamic bones, blend shapes, and nuanced wing and shoulder motion to create a majestic and believable avian performance. Meanwhile, an AI-powered “Image to 3D” pipeline accelerated environment creation—using ComfyUI to generate background assets like totem poles and rustic cabins in minutes, allowing artists to dedicate time to standout hero assets.

Technologically, each installation is built around the Orbbec Femto Bolt depth camera—Microsoft’s Azure Kinect successor—housed in a custom, ship-ready display fabricator by 3D Exhibits.

In sum, Eagle Quest Alaska redefines immersive entertainment at sea. It seamlessly blends gesture-driven interactivity, regional storytelling, AI-assisted production, and cinematic design to deliver not just an engaging game but a deeply inspiring connection to place and nature.