NextGen at Walt Disney World and Disney’s “Touché”

By Dave Shute

A CLUE ABOUT NEXTGEN INTERACTIVITY?

Disney NextGen project is reported to have a lot of parts to it, and most of the attention over the last year has been on the problem or opportunity of scheduling a new kind of FASTPASS months in advance.

But from the start of the rumors about this project, another part of NextGen has been expected to be “increased interactivity.” This has had a bunch of components, from stuff at Disney World recognizing you by name to more play opportunities in areas like waiting lines.

Last week’s announcement and demonstrations of Disney’s Touché technology may illuminate a little more how the interactivity may work.

The technology, developed by Disney Research, Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, according to Carnegie Mellon’s website

“makes it possible to not only detect a “touch event,” but to recognize complex configurations of the hand or body that is doing the touching. An object thus could sense how it is being touched, or might sense the body configuration of the person doing the touching.”

In other words, the parks may know not only who you are but what you are doing–and can then respond to your touch and even your gestures…

This is much more interesting than only knowing who you are, and creates lots of opportunities for making the parks more fun–making an entire park an interactive playground.

The full possibilities of the idea–understanding your gestures–require two non-invasive sensors on a body–e.g. two wristbands–although some simpler approaches, such as understanding your touch, don’t require any sensors on the body of the guest at all.

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