Pal Mickey 2.0

[uklad79]

I read online that the new Pal will have less jokes as these are repeated too much and will have more games and 'trivia' about the park. These are programed into him. As for the info on rides I belive from what I have read all these are pre-programed and triggered via the infared signals. I found this about how it works.
Bruce Vaughn "The doll's head is designed so that the speaker actually picks up a little more—it's a better speaker than other toys have. We also came up with a process of recording and compressing the audio that is unique and that allows us to get a lot of information into a small package and keep the quality very high.
Also, you know, that's all pre-programmed stuff in there, and what it's waiting for is a signal from these emitters that says, "Play this joke. Play this sequence." We didn't want to have it say the same thing over and over again, so there's a small computer in there that's making decisions. You can unlock things by the more experience you do, so the more you do, the more the toy has to tell you. We're trying to make sort of a bonded friendship where there is some knowledge of a history and awareness, seeming awareness, from the character."

 

[WDWFanatic]

I think that upgrading pal 1 is prob just like when you get an all in one remote control for your t.v. You aim the other remote infareds at each other and they do their thing.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Then I wonder if he was programmed with some new things already inside. He talks near Philharmagic and about the bridge that goes near Everest. So he either updates or was programmed with things from the future.

 

[FamilyMan]

Pal Mickey CAN be updated because he can download new phrases from signals. But all the phrases are stored inside his internal memory. This has been confirmed by various guests. I heard a story once where a woman was in Epcot with her Pal Mickey. She was walking around and she noticed a Supervisor CM with a Pal Mickey. She walked passed the man, he grined at her, and then her Pal Mickey giggled. Mickey then told her how to say hello in French.

 

[Main Street USA]

Chux, thanks for the link.
Main Street USA, according to the imagineer in this article everything is pre-programmed. Below is a quote from Bruce Vaughn, vice president of research and development for Disney Imagineering:

"Also, you know, that's all pre-programmed stuff in there, and what it's waiting for is a signal from these emitters that says, "Play this joke. Play this sequence." We didn't want to have it say the same thing over and over again, so there's a small computer in there that's making decisions. You can unlock things by the more experience you do, so the more you do, the more the toy has to tell you. We're trying to make sort of a bonded friendship where there is some knowledge of a history and awareness, seeming awareness, from the character."

Yes, I know all of that. Some of you seem to have misunderstood my post, and after reading it a second time, I can see how.

I didn't mean that NOTHING was pre programmed. Of course he has certian phrases that are pre-programmed. What I meant was that he is capable of being updated every single time you enter the park with new stuff.

For example, (as mentioned above) when he first came out, Philharmagic was not open. At that time, Mickey made mention of a new attraction called Philharmagic that would be opening soon. However, he now says NEW things about the attraction when walking by, because he was automatically updated upon entering the park.

He will continue to be updated in this fashion as long as they choose to keep the technology in the parks, and therefore, PAL 1 will never become obsolete.

Sorry for the confusion, there.

 

[DisneyJukebox]

I still don't believe that it downloads new audio phrases, but if I saw it in a tech paper I would keep an open mind. That article implies that all the phrases are statically stored in the Pal Mickey computer. Some of it waiting for the right time to come out.

I'm a software engineer, so I do this kind of stuff for a living, and I know what it would take to update it like that with new phrases and you wouldn't get it for $60 I can tell you that. The throughput of a IR download would be way too slow especially in a point to point communication environment such as the Disney Pal Mickey server to individual Pal Mickey clients.

That said, I will stand by my first assertion that the phrases were all contained within Pal Mickey when they went to production, and they come out when Disney was ready for them to come out.

But I do keep an open mind so if I read a white paper explaining it another way, I will accept it.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Shame you cant use your TV Remote to get him to go off....

 

[Laura]

If Pal Mickey updates its phrases each time you enter the park then that's great - that's what I assumed it did when I bought it. If it doesn't update then I'm hoping they at least put in information for Soarin' and Mt. Everest and stuff that will start working when the attractions open. Then he will at least be ok for a couple more years. Although I was hoping to get a couple decades out of him.

Does anyone else have problems with it ever? I let my sister and her fiance use it last week and they said Mickey kept telling them a parade was going to start when there was no parade and stuff like that.

 

[tigger248]

Does anyone else have problems with it ever? I let my sister and her fiance use it last week and they said Mickey kept telling them a parade was going to start when there was no parade and stuff like that.

The only thing semi-similar to that was from last July when I first bought mine. We had a ps for Crystal Palace at 8:00 am. On our way up Main Street, at 8:00 am, Mickey told us there was a short line for Buzz. Of course there was a short line, the ride wasn't even open yet (and wouldn't be for another hour). I attributed it to the fact that he picked up the 0 minute wait (since that's obviously what the rides start out with at opening) and didn't have a way of knowing that the park wasn't open yet.

 

[Iakona]

No worries, I think we'll probably agree to disagree until we get more info. From what I read and my experience with Pal Mickey, I believed the updates were the warnings when the parades would start etc.

I noticed that Pal Mickey never stated a definite time just a warning that the parade was starting soon. I understood the workings to be the triggers for preprogrammed phrases.

I absolutley could be wrong (just ask my wife) so maybe someone will have more indepth information.

One tip we got in January was to run Pal Mickey's nose next to the metal plating on the turnstiles on the way into a park (after you run your ticket through). A CM said that this is a quick and immediate way for Pal Mickey to know what Park he is in.

Yes, I know all of that. Some of you seem to have misunderstood my post, and after reading it a second time, I can see how.

I didn't mean that NOTHING was pre programmed. Of course he has certian phrases that are pre-programmed. What I meant was that he is capable of being updated every single time you enter the park with new stuff.

For example, (as mentioned above) when he first came out, Philharmagic was not open. At that time, Mickey made mention of a new attraction called Philharmagic that would be opening soon. However, he now says NEW things about the attraction when walking by, because he was automatically updated upon entering the park.

He will continue to be updated in this fashion as long as they choose to keep the technology in the parks, and therefore, PAL 1 will never become obsolete.

Sorry for the confusion, there.

 

[uklad79]

I dont know if I am talking rubbish hear, but here goes..... I am sure I was told by a CM that to get him updated he needed to be taken to a customer service desk to be plugged in and have a download done. I can find no plugs on him but I am sure thats what I was told when I bought him. As for updates via infared everytime you enter the park I agree with the poster that said this can not be done. You pass so fast through the enterance that I can not see that happening. Plus the Imaginear said that the nose contains a sensor that triggers him to speak he didn't say it was for downloads.

 

[MissM]

1.0 Mickey is programmed with over 700 phrases. And while he picks up what park he's in when he goes through the turnstyle (turned on, nose forward), he doesn't download new phrases.

Pal Mickey will teach you how to say Hi in French in Epcot because of a pre-programed trigger in the park, not because of someone else's Pal Mickey. He'll give that comment to anyone who walks by the trigger.

One of the things he DOES get when he "learns" what park he's in for the day is the time stamp of scheduled events. He has a clock that will signal before a scheduled event (without a trigger, just by the clock). That's not to say the schedule isn't wrong or the time stamp isn't wrong - he's told me about parades at the wrong time before. I don't know that they've changed the events schedule properly or enough because he often seems off on the times.

He also picks up on a broadcast that notifies you of short wait times. That's all built in though from the start. The wait time listing for the rides can make him trigger at a sensor throughout the park. So, you walk by trigger A and he "smartly" cycles through which thing to tell you. Like, a comment about where you are; a joke; a wait time announcement; a parade, etc. He "remembers" during the time he's on which he's played and which he hasn't. This limits the number of repeats he'll say. Some triggers though don't have multiple phrases, so if he said it already, he'll tell a joke instead. If you turn him off and then back on, he'll "forget" that he told you something already. And, if you're there enough hours, sometimes he will repeat himself. (Walking past the old Fantasyland Skycarts station is a tigger for example. He's said thing A in the morning, thing B later, thing C in the afternoon and then in the evening, thing A again.) Just depends on how many different options he has for that trigger. And of course, he might trigger at one point and tell a joke, and trigger at another point and tell the same joke. That happens too.

Also, 1.0 is selling in Disney outlets for $27 and has been for a couple months now. He also hasn't been available for rent for quite some time now. (To Disney's surprise, more people just outright bought him then rented and more adults then kids bought them.)

2.0 is supposed to address the jokes issue as well as cater to both children and adults more. Though I don't know if this means more trivia or a bigger mix of sayings or what.

2.0 was also rumored to potentially support a personalized PS notification. I have no idea if this will be supported or was implemented, but it was on the drawing table for awhile from what I understand.

Your 1.0 will continue to work. But, unfortunately, he's not going to get new jokes and stuff. He's got an internal flash type ram and that doesn't update downloads like we all might want. You can "reset" him by taking him in to a Pal Mickey store (they put him in a drawer and can reprogam him through his nose sensor if he gets wonky) but again, it's more a fresh install then anything else.
-m

 

[DisneyJukebox]

Thanks. That was a lot of good info.

I wonder if someday they will run a wireless network through the park and Pal Mickey will basically be a small computer with a built-in wireless adapter running DHCP and running some sort of authentication protocol to be allowed access to the Disney network. Then you could do all sorts of fun things.

And if anyone at Disney wants someone who can work on stuff like this, send me a private message. :animwink:

 

[Eileen K]

I dont know if I am talking rubbish hear, but here goes..... I am sure I was told by a CM that to get him updated he needed to be taken to a customer service desk to be plugged in and have a download done. I can find no plugs on him but I am sure thats what I was told when I bought him. As for updates via infared everytime you enter the park I agree with the poster that said this can not be done. You pass so fast through the enterance that I can not see that happening. Plus the Imaginear said that the nose contains a sensor that triggers him to speak he didn't say it was for downloads.

Pal Mickey's nose is the interface, by which Pal recieves data.

One would have to know more technical details, then have been made available to the public (that I can find), to know exactly what level of complexity the interface can recognize.

I do know that there is a machine (of sorts), where Pal Mickey is placed with his nose inserted, allowing Pal to receive some sort of information. This is not a rumor, I have seen this machine, and my Pal Mickey has experienced this machine. (I wish I took a photo, for my Pal Mickey's journal).

This machine may be nothing more then a reset (which would fix various problems that a Pal may encounter).

I think that the idea, that this really updates Pal Mickey, was a rumor that I once believed also.
What Pal is technically capable of, and what the practice is for updating him, probably differ.

The idea, of getting new sound bytes, via one of those infrared sensors, in the park, while walking around, never seemed reasonable to me.

The idea of getting an update, via this machine that Pal's nose fit into, did make logical sense to me. This allowed Pal to pick up a stream of data, that did not need to be a quick short transmission.

However, when I got this "update" it went so fast, that I am more inclined to believe that it really was just a re-set.

Someone, in a different discussion forum (intercot.com) has sent out an official request for the facts (I believe it was an email to disney merchandising). I am waiting for the response.

As for new attractions, this information may already be inside Pal 1.0 and 1.1.


Any attraction which Disney knew about (even if not yet opened or announced to the public), at the time a specific version was created, could be in there.

There is probably more in 1.1 then in 1.0. There will be more in 2.0 then either 1.0 or 1.1.

What I am wondering, is if people who own and carry, multiple pals, might be willing to start reporting the differences, based on what the different Pals say when near various sensors.

I plan to carry a couple of Pals around when I visit in Mid May. I don't have a version 1.1, so I can only compare 1.0 and 2.0.
I am only visiting for a few days, so I don't have time to gather much data.

 

[WDWFanatic]

Sounds interesting but mickeys nose is just like the infared sensor on a remote or my palm pilot. To program your universal remote you just aim them at each other and they learn. I can transfer data from my palm pilot to another one the same way, addresses, phone numbers, etc.. I would think mickey is the same, if he passes a sensor they could input new info into him up to a certain point.

I asked a few cast members about the new mickey and they looked at me like i had inside information and they acted like they knew nothing. I saw someone with one tucked in their jacket in fantasyland, I think they were testing it.

 

[Tim G]

The infrared sensor has to be "visible" at all times...

BTW...It all started by a mouse LOLLOL

 

[AEfx]

For example, (as mentioned above) when he first came out, Philharmagic was not open. At that time, Mickey made mention of a new attraction called Philharmagic that would be opening soon. However, he now says NEW things about the attraction when walking by, because he was automatically updated upon entering the park.

He will continue to be updated in this fashion as long as they choose to keep the technology in the parks, and therefore, PAL 1 will never become obsolete.

He does NOT recieve new phrases.

Those were preprogramed and then activated.

When you bought your 1.0, it had both the "coming soon" and the actual attraction info. When the attraction became active, a message was sent activating the messages that go with that attraction. But they were already inside - it just didn't say them until it was activated.

Your Pal Mickey 1.0 will never get new content that was not already programmed in. Those phrases are not "new", they were just new to you because Pal Mickey 1.0 wasn't allowed to tell you until they activated the phrase that was already in his programing.

AEfx

 

[donald23]

I have a question. I've been wanting to get a Pal Mickey but I was thinking it was for little kids. So I'm guessing that people of all ages are buying them? I really want one, they sound like a lot of fun.

 

[MissM]

I have a question. I've been wanting to get a Pal Mickey but I was thinking it was for little kids. So I'm guessing that people of all ages are buying them? I really want one, they sound like a lot of fun.

Put it this way, Disney was floored by the response for adults on the Pal Mickey's. They firmly believed it was going to be a family with kids niche, but they've sold to as many single adults as families with kids. I have one and no kids and I'm not in the minority. It's why some of the changes include less corny jokes and such because they needed to better appeal to a market they weren't expecting - grown ups.

And yeah, the drawer isn't a rumor, but it's just a reset. It intially sets your Pal and can reset him if he can't properly sync. One of the visits I made to the park, he didn't pick up where he was and I had to take him into one of the Pal Mickey stores and they reset him for me. That way, the next trigger he passed, he "learned" he was in MK and worked from then on.
-m

 

[Ned Brainard]

I found this on the web.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Staff
Design News
July 7, 2003


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Plush Pal: Disney's newest tour guide
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Five years in development, Walt Disney's new interactive tour guide Pal Mickey operates off of an infrared wireless network that transmits information in order to help it triangulate its location and speak the appropriate audio message. (The receiver is in Mickey's nose.) The choice of infrared may seem surprising, given the need for line of sight and difficulties coping with direct sunlight (think crowded theme park in the Sunshine State). But Leslie Hartog, project manager for Pal Mickey, says that the entertainment giant is using a new, patent-pending outdoor infrared technology developed by its own engineers. "Even in bright sunlight, the technology is powerful enough that the toy will pick up the signals," explains Hartog. "Also, they bounce off of things like concrete and clothing." She says that Disney engineers actually preferred to use infrared over radio because of the greater accuracy and short transmission distances. The signals consist of mainly simple codes, with Pal Mickey having most of the smarts. In fact, it's programmed to speak some 700 different messages. As for delivering customized messages or using Pal Mickey to perform true traffic control in the park, though, Product Developer Kyle Poor says that's not in the plans—just yet.

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http://www.designnews.com/article/CA306878.html