No matter how I feel about the current direction of Disney movies, the Disney parks are truly committed to continuing Walt’s vision. One of the many things that made Walt Disney famous was his constant innovation, be it in animation or technology. Epcot is a perfect example of how Walt’s dedication to being on the cutting technological edge was constantly on display in his parks.
The Disney parks Imagineers have continued in Walt’s spirit to this day. One of the latest examples of that is through augmented reality. Techie blog thomaskcarpenter.com, a site often dedicated to exploring advancements in augmented reality, made a recent study of the use of this new technology at Disney World.
Before I delve into the description of Disney World’s techie progress, I’ll give you a definition of augmented reality. At first I thought it was just another, fancier term for virtual reality, but that’s not the case. Augmented reality, according to the Thomas Carpenter blog, is “the evolution of the Internet, a visual medium of data overlain our reality, creating an enhanced living experience with new dilemmas that will require careful exploration.” Or for us non-techies, it’s a way of interacting with the real world using internet enhancements.
An example of augmented reality (AR), then, is Google’s new feature Google Goggles. You can take a picture of a place, say a museum, with your cell phone, upload it to Google’s program, and then search the web for more information on what was displayed within the picture.
Disney World’s foremost example of AR is the Kim Possible Adventure Game at Epcot. Players are given special cell phones that buzz with messages from Kim Possible and her crew, asking their newest operatives (those playing the game) to help with a special mission.
Clues to each new step in the game are given to the players, who then need to deceiver the clues in order to figure out to which location within Epcot they must proceed. The technology within the cell phone allows it to sense when players have entered the correct area of Epcot, and then it downloads the next message.
The game plays out over about eight different locations within Epcot, presumably teaching kids about the various locales represented along the way. I know I might not be the target audience for this game, but it sounds completely awesome. I loved Carmen Sandiego as a kid, and this sounds like a kind of live action version of that game: piecing together puzzles and learning about geography and other cultures along the way.
The techie blog lists other ways in which augmented reality is incorporated within the Disney World experience. At the back of the LEGO store in Downtown Disney is a kiosk with a screen that, when an unopened box of LEGO’s is held in front of it, displays in 3-D what that particular set will look like when completed. Other examples of AR used throughout Disney World are similar, with interactive displays scattered throughout the park.
It comes as no surprise to me that Disney World would be one of the first to bring a new piece of technology to the masses. Dedication to exploring and sharing new technology is embedded within the history of the Disney parks. The feeling I most strongly come away with from this story, however, is a strong desire to play that Kim Possible game. Put that down as another item on my to-do list for my Disney World trip.
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