According to the designer, this theme park-style “attraction” can only be used once: the last time.
We all know the fizzing sense of adrenaline (or danger, for wimps like me) that comes from riding a roller coaster. However, a Lithuanian researcher has given meaning to the term "death loop" by developing the concept of a macabre roller coaster for the purpose of euthanasia. Rollercoasters whose sole purpose is to kill, obviously painlessly, their passengers.
Euthanize with a roller coaster
Julijonas Urbonas is featured on his website like “an artist, designer, researcher, engineer, [and] founder of the Lithuanian Space Agency” who is studying for her PhD in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art in London.
He has a lot of guts to deal with a "morbid" concept like this, for a topic as delicate as that of euthanasia. Twice: he had already proposed a similar thing in 2010. He described this form of euthanasia as “a hypothetical death machine in the form of a roller coaster, designed to humanely, with elegance and exhilaration, take the life of a human being.” Did he really say euphoria?
In this video the first presentation of the “euthanasia roller coaster” project:
How the roller coaster of (sweet?) death works
“You can only ride this roller coaster once,” says the designer. And I believe you. “The concept is designed to accommodate up to 24 passengers. Once everyone is on board there is a slow ascent to the top, which is at the height of 155 meters (510 feet).” Practically that of a skyscraper, even quite tall.
Once at the top, the Euthanasia Roller Coaster gives everyone the chance to stop and ride back safely. Everyone who pushes the start button starts the race."
At that point, those who remain on the roller coaster and decide to get euthanasia descend at a speed of about 360 kilometers per hour (223 miles per hour) before the cars go through a series of seven spiral loops, each smaller than the previous. On this route the passenger is subject to very intense pushes and stresses which sequentially induce strong experiences: euphoria, thrill, tunnel vision, loss of consciousness. Death.
Passengers will also wear a special biomonitoring suit that will double check their vital signs to see if everything is OK or there is “the need for a second round, which is extremely unlikely,” he said added Urbonas.
What do you think? In the years that have passed since the first release of the strange Urbonas concept, there have not yet been any parties interested in making it happen.
