You may have heard the joke about a dinosaur running around the parks one day in the WDW Imagineering Special on the Travel Channel...but that is a LOT closer than you think!!
'Dinosaur' will roam free in Disney park
Imagineering's first Animatronic figure to walk will interact with visitors.
By MICHELE HIMMELBERG
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM – Walt Disney Imagineering has brought us birds that sing, pirates that wink and presidents that stand to greet us. Now, it plans to introduce the first walking Audio-Animatronic figure in a theme park.
An as-yet unnamed dinosaur will begin roaming through a designated area of either California Adventure or Disneyland this spring, said Marty Sklar, vice chairman of Imagineering. This will be the first test of untethered Audio-Animatronics and the next phase in Imagineering's quest to increase interaction with visitors.
Disney created Audio-Animatronic figures and has used them in attractions since 1963, beginning with birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room. But this will be the first one that's not fixed to a spot. An unseen operator will guide the dinosaur's movements, allowing it to respond to guests.
"That's the magic," Sklar said. "When people see, hear and touch this character, it will be a real groundbreaking experience."
The character doesn't talk, but can respond with movements. Some of its potential antics are eating popcorn, "stealing" a guest's hat and sneezing.
Imagineers have long dreamed about walking Animatronics, but it took technology a while to catch up with their creative minds.
The first Animatronic figures, called A-4s, could turn and open their mouths to be synchronized with music. The next phase, called A-100s, had more real-life movement and were used in Pirates of the Caribbean and "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at Disneyland, where the figure stands and talks to the audience. But none have been able to directly interact with visitors.
Always coy about its "magic," Disney declined to talk about how the dinosaur works. But a neuroscience professor with experience in robotics said Imagineers would have confronted issues with software to help the creature stay balanced as it walks. Robotics experts also have been searching for the right kind of spongy material to mimic muscle tissue and make movements less jerky.
A robotic figure on four legs is more common, said Thomas Fikes, of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, because "it's incredibly hard to get a biped to walk." They tip over easily and can't self-correct when they lose balance.
"We do have things that move around on their own," Fikes said. "But if (Imagineers) have something that's relatively autonomous - if there aren't 40 people in the background pulling switches like the Wizard of Oz – and if they can give it some very general commands like walk this direction, or surprise that kid, that would be pretty amazing."
That's the intent. Children expect a higher level of interactivity in entertainment in today's era of video and computer games, said Don Goodman, Imagineering president.
"The way kids play changes the way we see things," Goodman said. "It takes a lot more to wow kids today."
Disney chose a dinosaur because children are so fascinated with them, Sklar said, plus "it's a large enough character to get their attention."
'Dinosaur' will roam free in Disney park
Imagineering's first Animatronic figure to walk will interact with visitors.
By MICHELE HIMMELBERG
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM – Walt Disney Imagineering has brought us birds that sing, pirates that wink and presidents that stand to greet us. Now, it plans to introduce the first walking Audio-Animatronic figure in a theme park.
An as-yet unnamed dinosaur will begin roaming through a designated area of either California Adventure or Disneyland this spring, said Marty Sklar, vice chairman of Imagineering. This will be the first test of untethered Audio-Animatronics and the next phase in Imagineering's quest to increase interaction with visitors.
Disney created Audio-Animatronic figures and has used them in attractions since 1963, beginning with birds in the Enchanted Tiki Room. But this will be the first one that's not fixed to a spot. An unseen operator will guide the dinosaur's movements, allowing it to respond to guests.
"That's the magic," Sklar said. "When people see, hear and touch this character, it will be a real groundbreaking experience."
The character doesn't talk, but can respond with movements. Some of its potential antics are eating popcorn, "stealing" a guest's hat and sneezing.
Imagineers have long dreamed about walking Animatronics, but it took technology a while to catch up with their creative minds.
The first Animatronic figures, called A-4s, could turn and open their mouths to be synchronized with music. The next phase, called A-100s, had more real-life movement and were used in Pirates of the Caribbean and "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" at Disneyland, where the figure stands and talks to the audience. But none have been able to directly interact with visitors.
Always coy about its "magic," Disney declined to talk about how the dinosaur works. But a neuroscience professor with experience in robotics said Imagineers would have confronted issues with software to help the creature stay balanced as it walks. Robotics experts also have been searching for the right kind of spongy material to mimic muscle tissue and make movements less jerky.
A robotic figure on four legs is more common, said Thomas Fikes, of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, because "it's incredibly hard to get a biped to walk." They tip over easily and can't self-correct when they lose balance.
"We do have things that move around on their own," Fikes said. "But if (Imagineers) have something that's relatively autonomous - if there aren't 40 people in the background pulling switches like the Wizard of Oz – and if they can give it some very general commands like walk this direction, or surprise that kid, that would be pretty amazing."
That's the intent. Children expect a higher level of interactivity in entertainment in today's era of video and computer games, said Don Goodman, Imagineering president.
"The way kids play changes the way we see things," Goodman said. "It takes a lot more to wow kids today."
Disney chose a dinosaur because children are so fascinated with them, Sklar said, plus "it's a large enough character to get their attention."