Sphereing

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The activity of sphereing, zorbing or globe-riding is the recreational practice of humans rolling downhill in a sphere, generally made of transparent plastic. Sphereing is generally performed on a gentle slope, but can also be done on a level surface, as well as on water, permitting more rider control. In the absence of hills, at least one vendor has begun constructing metal ramps.^[1]

Some spheres are constructed for a single rider, whereas others are designed to hold two or three. The longer runs are approximately half a mile. The first Zorb site was in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Contents 1 Construction 2 Facilities 3 History 3.1 Terminology 4 Records 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Construction

The sphere is a double-sectioned sphere, with one ball inside the other with an air layer between. This acts as a shock absorber for the rider, dampening bumps while traveling. It allows for a lightweight sphere made of flexible plastic, as opposed to the rigid plastic, for example, of a hamster ball. Many spheres have straps to hold the rider in place, while others leave the rider free to walk the sphere around or be tossed about freely by the rolling motion - water can be added inside, and this is commonly called a "water ride". A typical sphere is about 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter, with an inner sphere size of about 2 metres (6 ft 6.7 in), leaving a 50–60 centimetre (20–24 in) air cushion around the riders. The plastic is approximately 0.8 millimetres (0.031 in) thick. The inner and outer sphere are connected by numerous (often hundreds) of small ropes. Spheres generally have one or two tunnel-like entrances.

[edit] Facilities

Sphereing is generally performed at commercial sphereing facilities, where prospective riders pay a fee for each ride or for a whole day's activity. In many cases, corporations lease facilities for events. While the Zorb Limited business model involves leasing spheres to franchisees, and not selling them to private individuals, several companies now offer sphereing balls for sale. The quality of some of these has been called into question.^[2] Sphereing is currently (2008) practiced in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, the middle of Sweden, Estonia, the Gold Coast in Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Japan, India, Thailand and Slovenia.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, there is a facility stationed in Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, and a facility in Amesbury, Massachusetts has recently opened. Several franchise-based companies (Spheremania, Orb 360, OGO) have entered the market and begun to compete with Zorb Limited.

[edit] History

Hamster balls, hard plastic single layer spheres made for small rodent pets, have been manufactured and sold since at least the 1970s. A Russian article on the Zorb mentions a similar device having debuted in 1973.^[3] In the early 1980s, the Dangerous Sports Club constructed a giant sphere (reportedly 23 metres/75.5 feet across) with a gimbal arrangement supporting two deck chairs inside. This device was eventually cut up for scrap, with some of the plastic remnants used to cover a compost heap.^[4] Human spheres have been depicted in mass media since 1990 when the Gladiators event Atlaspheres first aired, albeit with steel balls.

In 1994, Dwayne van der Sluis and Andrew Akers conceived the idea for a type of sphere in Auckland, New Zealand, calling their invention the "Zorb". With Craig Horrocks and one other investor, hamster enthusiast Rebecca Mazonson, they created the firm Zorb Limited, and set to work commercializing sphereing. Their business model was to develop the activity world-wide via a franchise system. In 2000, van der Sluis exited from the company to return to his career as a software engineer; Akers continued to run the company as CEO until April 2006, when he resigned. Around this time, Zorb Limited's European master franchise operator, Michael Stemp, and Hungarian master franchise operator, Attila Csató, ended their affiliation with Zorb Limited and started a manufacturing firm, Downhill Revolution.

Andrew Akers and his brother David Akers have since teamed up with another ex-Zorb employee; Chris Roberts to create the OGO ^[5] (Outdoor Gravity Orb).

OGO Inc continue to develop zorbing via their OGO products as well as a new ride using similar zorbing technology called The Fishpipe.^[6] The Fishpipe features an inflatable barrel (similar to zorbing balls but shaped like a rugby ball) that is strapped between two large metal wheels on a frame. Water is added to the inside of the Fishpipe barrel similar to hydro-zorbing or the H2OGO. Customers climb inside and the entire barrel is rotated by an electric motor at speeds of up to 45 revolutions per minute. The inner surface is very slippery due to the water and customers slide inside on the bottom of the barrel and do not get tumbled around. Apparently it is possible to bare-foot surf inside the barrel. OGO Inc claim that the distance you travel during the ride would make it the world's longest water slide.

[edit] Terminology

Due to the success of the Zorb company, Sphereing is often referred to as Zorbing, and Zorbing entered the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2001 where it was defined as: "a sport in which a participant is secured inside an inner capsule in a large, transparent ball which is then rolled along the ground or down hills".

[edit] Records

The Guinness Book of World Records recognises two sphereing records, set over two consecutive days in 2006:

• Longest sphereing ride held by Steve Camp who travelled 570 metres (1,870.1 ft).^[7]
• Fastest sphereing ride held by Keith Kolver who reached a speed of 52 kilometres per hour (32.3 mph).^[7]

[edit] In popular culture

• The television series Gladiators includes an event called Atlaspheres which follows a similar concept to zorbing in which participants are placed in large steel balls and must roll around on the arena floor to either score on pods or prevent scoring.
• At the beginning of the 1991 film Armour of God II: Operation Condor, Jackie Chan rolls down a cliff in a sphere.
• On the Nickelodeon T.V. movie Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand the characters had to zorb as part of a marathon race.
• In MTV's 1998 Road Rules: All-Stars, the cast went zorbing in New Zealand.
• Peter Gabriel used a Zorb as part of his 2002-2004 "Growing Up" tour. The Zorb was lowered onto him from overhead scaffolding and he rolled around the stage in it, singing using a wireless headset microphone. Tour staff populated the pit at the edge of the stage in many venues as protection against rolling off the edge. During this tour Peter Gabriel roll into Zorb in the centre of Milan, Italy. In 2003 he was guest in the most italian music show, Festival di Sanremo, present himself in a zorb on the stage^[8][9]
• In the 2004 reality television show The Amazing Race, the racers' task for the roadblock in leg 10 involved a Zorb ride in Rotorua.^[10]
• An upcoming (planned UK release March 2007) video game called Spinout has players racing in translucent spheres called "Xorbs".^[11]
• Zorb Balls are featured in a 2008 commercial for the Toyota Sequoia sport utility vehicle.
• Zorb balls are also in the 2008 Hutchinson 3 ad, art directed by Justin Theng, copywriter Guy Lemberg.
• Repeated mentions of human-sized hamster balls by the characters from the popular webcomic xkcd.
• In the Discovery Channel series Smash Lab, the zorb is used as a concept for stopping a car from rolling down a hill.

[edit] See also

• Extreme sports
• Water ball

[edit] References