Disney Stays on Top of Tech Trends

[Timbo]

From Entrepreneur.com Business Blog:

Disney Stays on Top of Tech Trends

The creative minds at Walt Disney Imagineering always seem to be one step ahead of the rest of the world. Take, for instance, their new Living Character Initiative, which is being tested on the streets of Disney's California Adventure theme park this weekend. Their high-tech creations are free-roaming, interactive, audio-animatronic Muppets. Picture this: They can "see" and "talk" to tourists without any puppeteers in sight. Imagineers coyly attribute the roaming Muppet characters as "Disney magic" and "pixie dust," but in reality, a live puppeteer is watching and listening and making the magic happen from afar.

Disney says the goal of its Living Character Initiative is to improve the interaction between their characters and the generation of YouTube watchers and Nintendo Wii-players. Ultimately, Disney wants for one person to operate the characters from their Imagineering headquarters in Glendale.

Check out the video on this link to see how Disney is bringing the Muppets to life. Posted by Kristin Edelhauser at 3/2/2007 4:25:00 PM

Source URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/entry/175308.html

[Stitch]

Okay, that is totally cool!

[Timbo]

Remote-controlled Muppets roam Disneyland
The latest technology lets characters wow guests without a human puppeteer in sight.

Kimi Yoshiro | Los Angeles Times
Posted March 4, 2007

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Watch out, Mickey Mouse. The Muppets might be sneaking up on you.

Walt Disney Imagineering last week debuted its latest, cutting-edge creation: free-roaming, interacting audio-animatronic Muppets capable of "seeing" and "talking" to tourists -- and without a human puppeteer in sight.

Disney's most advanced robotic creation to date makes the costumed, mute Winnie the Poohs and Donald Ducks seem like felt-covered relics, although Disney executives are quick to reassure that the beloved, autograph-signing cast isn't going anywhere.

"This is an incredibly compelling and powerful way to experience the characters," said Bruce Vaughn, vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering's research and development division.

"They are fully aware of the people in their presence and can call you by name. It is a 100 percent live experience."

The technology is vastly more sophisticated than Disney's first foray into audio-animatronics with the Tiki Room birds in 1963 and Mr. Lincoln in 1964.

In their first appearances at Disney's California Adventure, bumbling scientist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his "meep-meeping" sidekick Beaker joked and chatted with guests. The Muppets could see the color of the clothes the kids wore and the lollipops they licked -- casting a slight Big Brother vibe over the proceedings.

They maneuvered in a silver, egg-shaped roving laboratory outfitted with flashing lights, spinning signs, confetti cannons and smoke and water sprayers.

"That's amazing!" said Adam Young, 27, a tourist from Alberta, Canada.

As Beaker and Honeydew encouraged people to do the hokeypokey, Young scanned the park, high and low. He twisted around, his eyes darting in search of the human manning the controls. "I'm trying to figure out who was driving it. It's crazy."

Never wanting to divulge their secrets, Imagineers waved it off as "Disney magic" and "pixie dust." In reality, a live puppeteer who can see and hear everything reacts remotely from afar.

The Muppet Mobile Laboratory will be roaming the streets of California Adventure through today, before it heads for more tweaking.

During last week's initial testing, a team of Disney techs and Dave Goelz, the original voice of Muppet characters including Dr. Honeydew and Gonzo, were behind the scenes in Anaheim.

The goal is for one person to operate the characters from as far away as the headquarters of Walt Disney Imagineering, the theme-park design and development arm of Walt Disney Co. about 35 miles north of Anaheim.

Through its Living Character Initiative, Disney is trying to improve interaction between characters and YouTube-watching, Nintendo Wii-playing guests. In 2005, the company introduced Turtle Talk with Crush, a real-time animated show that allows the Finding Nemo character to chat with fans.

In 2003, Disney scientists and engineers built Lucky, a 20-foot-long dinosaur that could smile, grunt and burp. It was the first time an audio-animatronics creation was unleashed into the park, instead of tethered to an attraction, such as the swashbucklers in Pirates of the Caribbean. Lucky, who visited Animal Kingdom in Central Florida in 2005, has since gone into hibernation.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, which were purchased along with the rest of the Muppets in 2004 from Jim Henson Co., can be removed from their roving lab and put into theater chairs on rides, or any other setting. No nearby operator is necessary.

"With prior audio-animatronics, you see the figure standing, but there's a huge infrastructure backstage and all sorts of machines," Vaughn said. "With this, if it doesn't fit in what you see, we're not using it. . . . I think what you'll ultimately see is a lot of characters that we haven't been able to deliver before."

The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper.

Source URL: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busin...tory?track=rss

[firemedic]

THAT is too cool!!

[Timbo]

There is a good video on this blog: http://blogs.ocregister.com/gadgetress/archives/2007/03/disneys_next_an_1.html

March 05, 2007

Disney's next animatronic

I spent Sunday at California Adventure watching one of the last demonstrations of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker -- Disney's first roaming, audio animatronics. Here's the story. Disney Imagineers were testing the new animatronics partly to make sure the characters can interact well with visitors to the theme park. But the new technology was also to show the potential of animatronics.

I was previously there on Friday when Honeydew surprised me and called me up to interview. I fumbled with questions but later did get to interview Bruce Vaughn, the vice president of R&D for Walt Disney Imagineering, who told me a few secrets behind the Disney 'magic." All of this is caught on film, of course. Here's one edited video of my interviews. If I have time, I may add another one that digs deeper.