Revolution was the first roller coaster to feature a full loop. Now, 40 years after the ride opened, it will be the first again, this time to feature virtual reality as part of the ride.

Revolution is one of nine coasters that have been outfitted by Six Flags to utilize Gear VR headsets so that riders can experience a unique experience.

“Everywhere you look you see what’s (going on in the headset),” said coaster enthusiast Matthew Nelson. “You don’t see the ride.”

Many riders feel as though they are not on a roller coaster, as the headsets allow them to look around and see an alien invasion of a city, with them playing the role of a pilot attempting to shoot down the alien mothership.

“You don’t feel like you’re on a coaster,” said Nelson. “It just goes and you feel like you’re flying through a city.”

Revolution was upgraded in preparation for the relaunch, said Sam Rhodes,the corperate director of design for Six Flags. He specifically mentioned that the track and the coaster train that rides the rail were both readjusted for a smoother ride. And even if passengers are thrown around, they come out with less discomfort due to the removal of large shoulder restraints, which were replaced with lap belts to allow a greater range of motion.

We didn’t want to bring it back as just a new train,” said Rhodes. “We wanted to bring it back as a new experience.”

Although several riders claimed that riding the new Revolution without the VR headset on was a fun experience, they unanimously said that the virtual reality made it better.

“We’ve been looking at VR for a long time. Unfortunately it hasn’t been feasible before now,” Rhodes said.  “The device is perfect for what we wanted to do. The first non tethered,high quality device that we could actually put on.”

The safety of the passengers is an important aspect of the design, said Rhodes. Many headsets were proposed to ensure that allergic reactions to both the safety straps and cleaning solutions used to sanitize the equipment.

Alexis, a team member at Magic Mountain, said that the goggles would be cleaned by hand between uses to prevent disease transmission.

“Every time we cycle through a ride,” she said, “we collect the goggles and wipe them down with an alcohol based solution, and clean the lenses with a microfiber cloth and spray.”

The system works because of a “black box” in the train that senses the roatation of the wheels, said Rhodes.

“That tells me exactly where the coaster is on the tracks within inches of exactly where it is. (The box) sends a bluetooth signal to the VR headsets that guests are wearing.”

A QR code on the back of each seat tells the camera where the rider is in relation to the front of the train and also if they are in a left or right seat. All of this information is put together by the headset to make sure that riders experience matches up with the section of track that their body is experiencing.

“By doing that it eliminates any kind of nausea that you would get,” Rhodes said. “If it wasn’t synchronized you would have some nausea and you wouldn’t really enjoy it , but with this, it just makes it magical.”

He stated that the nine coasters outfitted with this technology were only the start, and that the ease of working with the VR system gives rise to many opportunities to develop more unique experiences.

“It’s a really easy system,” he said. “It’s really easy to plug and play, which gives us opportunities for future development. We’re already looking at opportunities to make (what the viewer sees) interchangeable for different seasons of the year or possibly adding more gaming. There’s a lot of things that we’ll be able to do in the future.”

He added that the technology of VR was in the “pong stage,” and that the evolution of the technology could change the entire structure of roller coasters.

“It’s so cool,” he said, “because it does take you into a fully immersive world.”