Those Imagineers are such teases. We know there will be a lot of amazing details in the new Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant “Be Our Guest.” This monster, apparently a mythological beast known as a minotaur, will be a part of the decor in… Read More »Imagineering Shares Minotaur Detail from Be Our Guest Restaurant
This article should really be titled ‘Walt Disney Imagineering builds Star Trek Holodeck and refuses to share it with anybody.’ For a few years now WDI has used a Digital Immersive Showroom (aka The DISH) to assist in developing attractions, buildings, and even whole lands to make sure all the story details are right even before the first coat of paint is applied.
The DISH involves ultra high definition display walls combined with high precision motion capture systems and a system of goggles you wear to give you an overlay effect on the environment. Haptic feedback, markup and notation is also possible.
If you listen carefully, you can hear Imagineer Dr. Mark Mine mention that The DISH uses CAVE technology. That is the same technology that 12+ years ago Tony Baxter was rumored to be developing a new type of theme park with a virtual reality holodeck at its core. Alas, the technology wasn’t quite there yet at the turn of the millennium. I wonder if WDI considers it there now. It looks like it as Mine is now the head of the Creative Technology Group, charged with creating more uses for these technologies.
If you look at this video you can see the practical applications for simulation testing. Indeed WDI works with a number of military scale simulation technologies similar to The DISH and Central Florida is the center of the simulation industry. Can you conceive of an attraction that would use this technology to tell a story and complete the ride experience?
Anyone who wants to work for Walt Disney Imagineering could do worse that follow Mark Mine’s path. In 1997 he published a dissertation on what it means to work in a virtual world. “Exploiting Proprioception in Virtual-Environment Interaction” is not lite reading, to say the least, but it is a fascinating look at the state of the art 15 years ago.
More about Mark Mine:
Read More »Virtual Reality, just one of Imagineering’s many story telling tools
Despite creating the genre and 57 years of experience in the theme park industry, The Walt Disney Company has not hit every attraction out of the park. In fact, some were complete strikeouts. Here are a few of my nominees for the worst Disney Attraction… Read More »Worst Disney Attraction Ever
The kind souls at Walt Disney Imagineering were nice enough to share this time-lapse video of construction at New Fantasyland. The video runs through about March 23rd or so, so the latest construction on the Mine Train isn’t shown. But it is still an enjoyable… Read More »New Fantasyland Time-Lapse Video
The Official Disney Park Blog interviewed Imagineer Joe Rohde on the occasion of his receiving the Buzz Price Thea Award recognizing a career of distinguished achievements. Those include: The Adventurers’ Club, leading the creation of Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest, stepping in to help with Aulani,… Read More »Joe Rhode Interview on Avatar and Animal Kingdom
It makes me incredibly happy to hear that Disneyland has finally decided to honor the accomplishements of Alice Davis with a window on Main Street USA at Disneyland. These windows serve as the ‘credits’ to the full experience of the park, Davis’ husband Marc has… Read More »Alice Davis to Finally Appear On Main Street Window at Disneyland
WDI model for Plectu’s Galactic Theater in the 2055 concept of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Of all the lands at Disneyland, Tomorrowland has always presented Imagineers the most trouble. Work began 6 months late, and it almost didn’t open with the rest of the park in 1955.… Read More »Avatar on Hold? Tomorrowland Rising?
Conceived to help alleviate some of the stress on Cinderella’s Royal Table, the Be Our Guest restaurant will transport guests into the world of Beauty & The Beast, one of Walt Disney Animation’s most loved movies. In this video, provided by WDI, Senior Concept Designer… Read More »A Special Preview of the “Be Our Guest” Restaurant in New Fantasyland