A haunted house attraction in a Japanese theme park has turned to electronics
to give its visitors an extra fright this Halloween. The Hell’s Inn in Tokyo
boasts the usual fearsome ranks of ghouls and spectres—but also measures
how well you stand up to their scare tactics. On entering the
computer-controlled hell, visitors are given a handheld device that can be
activated by infrared signals. As they move through the haunted house, dodging
chilling favourites such as the eyeball-for-a-head fiend, the device vibrates
violently at various points, startling the already petrified guest. Pulse rates
are measured at the entrance and exit, and from the difference one’s “cowardice
level” is calculated—complete with a paper read-out to take away.
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