Princess Cruises worked with Groove Jones to create an interactive game that captures the spirit and scenery of Alaska using computer vision to track the player’s body movements. “Eagle Quest Alaska” is installed on several of the cruise line’s ships. This immersive experience lets guests become a bald eagle soaring through the skies, capturing the essence of the iconic scenery of Southeast Alaska and tidewater glacier cruising.
Using full-body motion tracking and cinematic visuals, the game invites players to explore the wild landscape and discover hidden moments of wonder along the way.
Game Experience for All Ages
The installation is a physical, controller-free game where guests pilot a bald eagle by simply moving their bodies. Players flap their arms to gain speed, lean to steer left or right, and shift forward or backward to climb or dive.
The game uses a depth camera and advanced custom markless body tracking software to measure the player’s movements.
The goal is to fly through as many rings as possible, with each ring type, Bronze, Silver, and Gold, awarding different point values based on difficulty.
Set in a rendered version of the Southeast Alaska wilderness, the terrain features rivers, snowy valleys, and evergreen forests.
Along the way, guests can spot subtle Easter eggs that celebrate Alaska’s native culture and wildlife, including dog sled teams, jumping salmon, grizzly bears catching fish near the water, and towering totem poles.
These visual surprises are designed to spark curiosity and inspire guests to book real-world excursions once they dock.
One of the game’s magical highlights is a gold ring near the end of the course. If players manage to fly through this special ring, the entire environment shifts to night.
The sky transforms as the northern lights unfurl above, offering a breathtaking payoff for highly skilled explorers. As the final flight path narrows, the eagle soars out of the canyon, gliding dramatically over a Princess cruise ship anchored at the mouth of a bay, bringing the journey full circle.
Motion Tracking & Technical Innovation
Groove Jones developed a sophisticated, markerless tracking system powered by computer vision. During a brief calibration phase, players assume a T-pose, enabling the accurate detection of body movement without the need for handheld devices or physical markers. This allowed guests of all ages to jump in and play instantly.
Behind the scenes, Groove Jones used a smoothed average of player movement, through an array convolution technique, to ensure stability and realism in the bird’s motion. The game’s camera system included a subtle delay and offset, giving the illusion that it was following the eagle, adding a cinematic layer to the experience.
Design, Branding & User Experience
Groove Jones customized its existing Bird Flight Simulator platform to reflect the Princess Cruises brand. This included redesigning the bird as a bald eagle, crafting a custom version of Southeast Alaska terrain, and integrating branded visuals such as a Princess ship featured prominently on the title screen and in the final scene.
To ensure a smooth experience, a fully animated 3D character was placed on screen at the beginning of each session. This digital host provided players with a short tutorial, explaining how to use their body to control the eagle, what the scoring system looked like, and how to start flying.
Advanced Animation and 3D Modeling
For the Princess Cruise Lines bird flight simulation game, our team set out to create an eagle animation that felt authentic, majestic, and true to life. To achieve this, we studied extensive footage of eagles in flight, paying close attention to how their bodies move, how their wings curve, and how their feathers respond to wind and motion.
The rig was crafted with a blend of custom enhancements and careful refinements to ensure the eagle moved with realism and grace. Specific attention was given to adding detailed feather flutter through individual paint weighting, and new bones were added to improve body and tail dynamics. The wing flap animation underwent significant updates to include more lower body movement, curved wing motion, and subtle shoulder adjustments using blendshapes, bringing a more believable and lifelike performance to the screen.
The result is a highly polished animation that captures the essence of an eagle in flight. Every detail was crafted with care, knowing the experience would be enjoyed by nature lovers and eagle enthusiasts alike.
AI-Powered 2D to 3D Production Pipeline
To speed up asset creation for this project, we used a cutting-edge frontier “Image to 3D” model and a custom ComfyUI workflow to rapidly create AI-generated background objects such as Totem Poles and Log Cabins to fill in the environment. Instead of spending weeks modeling background objects for our custom Environment like a traditional CG pipeline requires, we did it in minutes using AI! This freed up our experienced Asset Modelers to focus on the important Hero assets, and it unlocked new opportunities for creative iteration. We believe this is an exciting hybrid approach that allows CG Artists to work with AI to get the best of both worlds. The speed boost from AI and the creative guidance of seasoned Human artists.
Hardware & Game Console Fabrication
For this project, we utilized the Orbbec Femto Bolt, a next-generation camera that builds on the legacy of the Azure Kinect DK, which Microsoft has since sunsetted. Each ship received a custom-built display unit, fabricated by a third-party partner to house the tech in a mobile, sleek, and durable set piece designed for onboard use.
We worked with 3D Exhibits on the fabrication of the game console.
Conclusion
Groove Jones successfully brought the magic of Alaska to life through a fully immersive and interactive flight experience. By blending computer vision, regional storytelling, and game-based exploration, the experience delivers not just entertainment but inspiration. It’s a powerful example of how cruise lines can use emerging technology to connect travelers to their destinations in an unforgettable way.
