ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,303,798, issued on May 20, was assigned to WHITEWATER WEST INDUSTRIES LTD. (Richmond, Canada).
"Interactive raft ride" was invented by Kelly Sall (Richmond, Canada), Rick Briggs (Springfield, Ill.) and Mark Weston (Wakefield, R.I.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A water ride includes ride vehicles and spectator areas for allowing interaction between ride vehicles and/or between a ride vehicle and spectators to the ride. The water ride may include engagement components (e.g., water guns) located on the ride vehicle and/or at spectator areas. Users of the engagement components may therefore interact with other users operating other engageme...