Disney Imagineer Makes History | Disney Parks
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2024
- Join us as we stop by to congratulate Lanny Smoot, the Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer behind mind-blowing special effects like making Madame Leota float inside the Haunted Mansion and our state-of-the art Star Wars lightsabers, is being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame!
Lanny is the first Disney Imagineer to receive this prestigious recognition and only the second individual from The Walt Disney Company to be inducted - the first being Walt Disney, honored posthumously for the multiplane camera.
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That flooring is one of the first steps towards actual holodecks. Imagine being in a small version of the volume and you can walk around inside of it without ever walking into a wall. Damn that’s impressive.
I just said the same thing lol
HoloTile is an apt name
well you still have to walk like an 80 year old person on it... but the tech will get better im sure haha
@@seraphineraevenwulf yeah but we read this one first, lol
I definitely see it being useful in stage productions, where an actor can be walking in place as the scenery moves around them to imply movement with a more natural stride.
To be the second person to WALT DISNEY himself to be inducted is amazing! Congratulations to Lanny!
while companies like meta are burning millions on VR gimmicks Disney is out here doing actual research to solve real long term problems
This guy should be the CEO not Bob lol
@@user-tu4pu3ee2eI don’t quite get what you mean, I play vr racing sims quite a lot and absolutely love it. How is researching and pioneering a lot of vr/mr tech wasting millions?
@@user-tu4pu3ee2e That floor tile is just a next gen VR gimmick though? It's literally just the Catwalk VR without the harness, allowing people to walk in VR.
That's not too say it isn't cool, but Disney aren't the first people to make an omnidirectional treadmill and they won't be the best or last. It's been done before by other VR companies. The issue is how slow it is, you need to greatly increase the speed for it to be truely useful, otherwise any fast walker just walks right off the edge in a few steps, let alone anyone who wants to jog or run (Which is why most current omnidirectional treadmills have the harness)
@@KrispyCREAME805 I doubt he'd enjoy that. He wants to get his hands dirty not sit behind a desk pushing paper
This is incredible. The VR community has been trying to make something like this for a long time. I hope this can be commercialized.
It'll take some work to increase it's capabilities (notice the tiny, slow, steps they are taking?). But this looks beyond fantastic.
I'm dying to know how it actually works. It can't just be sitting on the floor right? There has to be some depth to it?
@@douglasg14b The principle is very very simple.
You have a spinning disk, now you tilt that disk so one edge is raised.
It acts then just like a wheel. To change the direction you rotate that tilt in yaw.
So each module has three motors, one for rotating the disk, one for setting the tilt angle, one for "rotating" the tilt angle.
Honestly, I'm dumbfounded why nobody has done this before.
Oh wait I know why, because that little demo thing they are showing costs a fortune and then some...
This is all custom high grade made stuff, even with mass manufacturing you wouldn't be able to produce one of those actuators for less than 100 bucks.
So yeah this is only something commercial spaces could afford, if at all.
This is what you can do when money is no subject.
@@DerSolinski think of as helodeck Vr ride at disney. I think that was the thinking about it.
That's interesting 🤔.
To be fair, any early prototypes are insanely expensive. Costs come down over time through commercialization.
Unfortunately this is Disney so we will probably never see this outside of Disney until the patent expires. Even if it becomes cheap to manufacture....
Which will suck because eventually the costs for such a thing will become more reasonable, but commercial entities or startups wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.
@@douglasg14b Uhm, I know a thing or two about manufacturing stuff and that 100 bucks quote is just for materials.
And that's near best case scenario.
The finished module could probably be made for around 1k.
These prices assume mass manufacturing and hardcore product design.
Those proof of concept modules are probably between 5 to 8k each...
This tiny platform has already 19 modules.
lets say 7.5k for good measure so that's 142.5k for that thing, without controller and sensor suite.
Even 20k for a small arcade would already be a very hard pill to swallow.
Now image a entire stage plastered with those...
Without the good will of one of our super rich overlords, not gonna happen.
This man just casually created the treadmill tech from Ready Player One, but even better somehow
2077 :3
I guess we will see how this gets implemented but at face value. Yeah this is absolutely better than what they had in ready player one
my thoughts too. lol
Literally like huhhh
@@MKUltraPillTime to party like it’s 2023
This is literally what VR needs next. For as long as VR tracking is limited to head and arm movement, it will remain a held back experience. Idk if there's a walking speed limit or whatever but this looks a lot better than the omni treadmill design
Based on what's shown here, there is likely a speed limit, though as he mentions dancers there's the possibility that it is higher than shown, or that they are already working on the next version of it. Either way - it's the critical first step, and from here they can work on ways to improve it's ability to hold someone in place.
I think this has a lot of potential for some form of Disney VR installation. You basically construct several of these tiles together in booths, and have people able to traverse a virtual park and interact in virtual game spaces.
I disagree, unfortunately a much, much larger version of this is needed for it to be good in VR, and I'm honestly not sold on the concept. Not only will all those rollers need maintenance but there is significant problems with latency and stop/starting. There have been multiple variations of this in development for the last decade by various companies and every single one of them runs into issues with inertia. This is also exasperated by general latency issues and how to accurately track where the user is and the precise direction they're walking. You can even see in the video it takes a split second to start moving him back and him having to brace in the chair when it goes faster. VR movement is pretty active and I've only seen success in impractically huge setups because they have the room to change speed more gradually.
That chair was moving pretty quick!
but disney trademaked so we consumers will never have access
Congrats, Lanny! We need a whole documentary on this man and his inventions!
Hear, hear. I would love to see more about his life. Very inspiring!
Absolutely!!!
The documentary would be more fun than all the recent Disney movies combined lol
immediately lol
and they should have him narrate it fantastic voice! lol Disney better do this
That floor is probably one of the most genius things I've ever seen.
The fact you can walk on it, but also have it guide objects in a path across the floor matrix is INSANE 🤯
It's all fun & games until hair, grime & liquids get spilled on that sucker! 😂
@@Guyfrommars183the inventor himself mentioned it can be used by dancer in coordinated effort fashion, it has to be durable enough for some hard floor movements
It is genius and all that, but Disney has got to stop calling their engineers by "imagineers"
I think it’s cool, these guys really get to dream and use their imagination. I’m a civil engineer for the federal govt and all I get to do is to design what I’m told to lol
Interesting insight, Batu Khan
This...this is next level. I'm not easily knocked off my feet but this has me floored. Amazing.
I see what you did there
I also see what you did there
you are now grounded for your dad jokes
Rofl
Floored? Oh, you! 😏
Cannot believe I've never heard of this guy before now, he seems like a creative genius and well deserving of such an incredible honor.
Because he’s their secret ingredient lol
People like this, not Elon Musk, are who deserve the term innovator.
He's an engaging speaker too. I'm surprised he doesn't have a higher public profile.
I'm not surprised. I'm an animator myself. Hopefully I get work at Walt Disney Animation Studios someday. Some of my former classmates work there now. I'm a dark skin male myself and I have never heard of Lanny either. Most people haven't heard of Ub Iwerks either, who is the true creator of Mickey Mouse. I learned about him in History of Animation class. I worked at Pixar as an intern in Summer 2019. It was the most amazing experience.
@@marenjones6665 Get over yourself buddy. Do you realize how insane you sound?
This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Congrats Lanny! Great job Disney!
That blew my mind.
@mymomsbasement69 seriously I feel like this is amazing and can have so many applications!
They are small spinning disks that can be tilted so the edge of the rotating disc transports you the direction and speed it wants. Great idea, so simple, yet effective.
Yes. It's really cool. Check out the patent. They have been working on this for a few years.
image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/10416754
But also costly... If it requires one motor per wheel. I wonder if you can group them somehow under one motion
No, is Magnets that Transport you to locations via activate electrons
@@fentinolp…huh?
Yes I imagine there is quite a bit of infrastructure under the floor here to drive all of those
As a paraplegic person this makes me so excited for the possible uses. From being able to finally move and interact simultaneously, to perhaps using the gestures to bring my chair to me, to whatever else can be thought of. How exciting!
I don't want to crush your spirit but that's not at all how this floor works. It's only designed to keep a person in the middle. I kinda doubt you'd be able to get a chair on this floor alone
@@hiddenvlogs7973did u not see the end where the imagineer was sitting in a chair and it was moving with him on top
@@jago09 it was moving but the point of the floors is to NOT move
@@hiddenvlogs7973i don’t think you understand how the progression and innovation of technology works lol
I am a C5/6 quad @PlutOrion and I am also excited about these new inventions that might make our lives more adaptive. I use my Quest 2 VR goggles (while in my wheelchair) to exercise and "travel."
I was fortunate enough to work with Lanny a little. He's an incredible guy.
How did you get to do that? You have to tell us some stories.
Stories please 😄.
No matter how mundane it is. :)
@@huliniswhoiam I worked at Disney for over 13 years and was an Imagineer for the last 6 of them. I crossed paths with Lanny on a few projects that I unfortunately can't talk about :/ but he has fantastic ideas and can find solutions to problems when everyone else has given up.
He embodies the quote "It's kind fun to do the impossible"
He is the magic behind the scenes! I’m finding it hard to believe hes had a 40 year long career, he looks absolutely amazing and so full of life!
Glad he’s being appreciated for sure!!
Incredible video! This guy absolutely needs his own behind-the-scenes workshop show.
Not only is this huge for VR... it also could revolutionize automatically moving stock around warehouses and stores!
I imagine this being used on Broadway. Every single show could utilize it in different ways. It would be so cool!
Please please PLEASE make this technology public! These are the exact kind of innovations the VR industry needs right now. Incredible work!
we are still talking about disney right? the prime enemy of the public domain?
you can bet they will fight tooth and nail to keep this monopolized as much as they possibly can
Absolutely! I would love to purchase this for an dedicated VR Room
They will in like 1-2 years once they show it off in their parks and stuff
I will become the fittest person in history the moment I have this and start a fresh playthrough of Skyrim VR.
Honestly, they don't even need to make this public, they just need to sell it at a reasonable price. And let the money flow, Disney is many things but they are nothing if not profit oriented, and they would be fools to not at least try and sell this for 600 to 1,000 US dollars for a 7 ft x 7 ft square because of just how much money they would make off VR
My eyes lit up when I saw that this invention could be used for VR movement. This would be a huge, huge advancement for virtual reality immersion. Congrats on the induction, Lanny!
What a genius! And he seems like such an interesting communicator. I’d love to hear his stories.
Congratulations on the recognition, Lanny!! Oh, and thank you for literally making people’s dreams come true!!
This does have some interesting applications for stage shows and performances. You could have a stage that moves props and set pieces around on its own.
You could have actors running in place while the set whips past them. You can have impossible mind bending performances.
Imagine a workshop where you can summon tables of tools to your side. Maybe impractical, but maybe not, don’t know until ya try :)
Not to mention it looks like The Force is being used on the person. So more magic style effects or windy days 😂
Kylo does a force pull on Rey in the finale for the Galactic Starcruiser that probably uses this floor. She definitely uses the saber at the start and then swaps if before combat.
Oh I think I get it. The floor has little discs at an angle that can turn around and also spin. Because part of the disc is higher than the other, there is a small point of contact to the object above it and the spinning of the disc ends up producing a translation movement. The discs turning around changes which part is higher up and changes the direction
You’re hired!🤝👍
I believe it is "System for providing multi-directional and multi-person walking in virtual reality environments." (US Patent 10,228,758 B2 and EU Patent EP3246789 B1)
It looks like there is some motion control involved too. When the box is on the tile, and when he is sitting on a chair on the tile, in both cases there is someone just off camera moving their arm in a circular motion that is identical to the motion of the box and the chair respectively. So not only can a person walk in place on the tile, but an off-tile operator could theoretically move that same person to different locations as well.
So there are definitely some electronics involved in the design.
Yeah it is a bunch of little tiles that impart a motion in any direction on the thing that is on them. Nothing insanely special there (though the scale is impressive) but what's really amazing is the layer on top of that engineering that has to essentially determine the motion of a person on top and provide a counter force that always aligns properly. THAT is the part that is really impressive. Each individual tile must be sensing the force upon it (an d not just a scalar but a vector) and then all the tiles together are computing what is needed. As pointed out it also has a simpler mode that is essentially a complex motion control rig but that is much more mundane compared to the former.
You should look at the patent. Looks like they are using vibration to modify the friction forces and move things in a specific direction.
People like Lanny Smoot make me smile. What a great guy. I hope the rest of your life brings you many joys!!
I can imagine a whole series about Lanny, his stories and inventions without not being amazed for hours on end.
The floor is super cool! Hope to see it in the parks some day.
this seems like a major safety hazard unless its only used by stage performers or there is some sort of harnass system. It seems pretty easy to fall on.
@@eeman0201
I see your point but at the same time this is new technology that deserves to be experimented upon
@@Cwilliam1999maybe it’s for the new avengers multiverse ride we are supposed to be getting at California adventure?
@dayoldbread1696 very highly doubt it. More likely it will be used in stage performances to allow actors to walk and run in place and such as opposed to miming it.
@@eeman0201 More likely gonna be used for props on rides.
Wow, absolutely incredible to hear from an imagineer who has made so many developments and advancements in technology for the Disney parks!!! Congratulations Lanny!!!
That floor is exactly the kind of tech that VR has been looking for. A floor where you can walk in any direction and remain in the center so you don't accidentally run into any wall. That tech has a LOT of potential outside the walls of Disney. So cool to see.
the omnidirectional treadmill tile is going to make a fortune
Congratulations, Lanny!
I'm always amazed with the imagination and knowledge it takes to bring some ideas to life. I only own one patent so far, and it's inspiring to see people like him who hold over a hundred and have created so many wonderful things!
Congrats Lanny! We are excited to welcome you into the Hall of Fame and to be able to tell your story to help inspire the next generation of inventors!
Incredible! The time is now for Disney to set aside bugetary concerns, give this man a raise, and hire several more promising, creative individuals from multiple engineering industries and give them some time under Lanny's wing so that the next generation of amazing, immersive experiences can be developed by and for Disney.
I am super impressed with Lanny's work. An honor well earned. Congratulations.
This could have applications for more immersive sci-fi or fantasy worlds in the parks, or giving people the feeling like they’re using the force at Galaxy’s Edge, or sold on a consumer level to make VR/AR work and gaming that much more real. This is actually incredible.
The Imagineers have brought so much fun and wonder to Disney. Thank you to Lanny and so many Imagineers.
Cool to see the man behind that amazing retractable lightsaber! Would be awesome if one day it was available for us to own!
Won't happen. Not with its current design. It's unidirectional and not very strong at all. What you have seen it do, is literally all it can be used for
@@BroughtToYouByDDean From what I've seen of it I'm trying to figure out how it works, I think is it some sort of flexible tube rolled into itself that uses air to extend it?
Lanny is a living icon. Much deserved of the recognition.
Congratulations!
That is an amazing achievement and absolutely well deserved!
I have been waiting for this for about 20 years, not only for gaming and VR possibilities, but training and research. Firefighters can train in endless configurations of buildings, supermarkets can test different layouts, and now you actually have to run, jump, slide, in all those first person games instead of just using your thumbs. Star Treks holo deck here we come. Great job Lanny, thanks for sharing this out.
This was so great! I'd absolutely watch a Lanny show on Disney+. More of this please 🙌
He's in The Imagineering Story
This man really does give Uncle Walt vibes. So friendly and so grateful and and excited to share his inventions and tech with a wide-eyed world. Love this guy!
Yeah
WOW. I've always wondered how that problem for VR use would ever be solved. This man is absolutely BRILLIANT.
Him walking on the tile floor has him looking like a glitched NPC, when they start walking in place
We all need a documentary on this guy!! Would love to learn more about him and all of his creations and experiences. CONGRATULATIONS LANNY SMOOT ON YOUR INDUCTION!!!
I'm bamboozled. What an outstanding achievement, too! I can't wait to see these things make a splash.
Congratulations Lanny the LEGEND!!! Your mind is incredible and you deserve the honor. 👏🏻
That floor looks way cooler than a treadmill
wow he’s a genius with so many great inventions, he deserves more recognition than ppl realize!👏
Please I encourage you to release more videos this one. This one was so good! Please feature more imagineers.
I can already see it being used for virtual production, saving space for mocap studios and combining it with say, the Volume
This thing would be great for VR 3D sculpting. I would actually be able to walk around my creations and adjust them, rather than constantly repositioning it and myself.
I am currently working towards becoming an imagineer. I hope to one day be able to work among greats like Lanny. Congratulations on all your work Lanny!
Wow that is amazing! Disney doing big things as always!
Also, congratulations Lanny on the amazing accomplishments!
Lanny giving our community one more thing to be proud of!! Thank you for all of your inventions, sir! You make my engineering heart sing!
Love content like this!! What a great spotlight on an incredible inventor and imagineer - would love to see others showcased as well! Congratulations Lanny on your monumental achievement ❤
That lightsaber is an amazing piece of engineering, reminds me of those old toy lightsabers that did exactly that but much more sophisticated.
Incredible. I've been waiting for this type of thing for a long time. Makes VR all the more compelling.
It's actually so simple, yet it's so ingenious and clever.
Congrats Lanny & THANK YOU from someone who got to witness that saber in person. Let's hope more will get to experience the wonders of the Halcyon still in the future.
Ta’bu e Tay to Lenny!
May the Stars Light his way!
This video made me cry! Firstly your life story. I work in Telecom so seeing that you come from a similar background was cool.
The previous inventions that you showed were really cool in their way but that flooring is amazing! I can see so many applications for it. VR, Transportation, film and TV, Healthcare, and simple home use. Could you see how this could help inventory management for like a retail store or even a company like Amazon? Holy moly! This tech is so innovative that it is revolutionary!
Thank you for letting us see this!
Oh WOW! Congratulations Mr Smoot! A day with him seeing all of his inventions would be amazing!
Congratulations Lanny! Amazing job on your work! You deserve it!❤
This guy genuinely has the coolest job on the planet
Love this! Congrats Lanny!!
Congrats Lanny and this is so cool. VR is so cool.
Congratulations to him! I bet he's so stoked! Those are some cool inventions. 👏 👏 👏
I think they need a Disney special about this on plus! He seems delightful, and inspirational teacher.
This was beautiful humbling charming magnificent and inspiring. That floor is gonna be wild in VR settings
incredible! love lanny. congratulations!! 🎉
The possibilities are endless for this, from stage production, real estate walk through, physical or mental therapy, human interactions, flow design, it's just incredible.
Its so nice when conversations feel so natural and not completely scripted ❤
That's amazing!!! Congratulations to Lanny!
Such an honor! Congratulations 🎊
Congrats Lanny. This is well deserved by an amazing engineer and inventor. Thanks for sharing your talents with the world❣
Imagine being trapped in a room with full HoloTile and nobody's there to help you 💀
Having said that, I noticed a soft pinging sound when he was looking down and about to start demonstrating it at 3:29. Might be when the mechanism turned on.
Such a genius but wholesome character he is. Good job, sir 👍
Thanks for that nightmare scenario 😵💫👨🏽💻
This thing is so genius and simple! Each tile is just a small spinner with 2 motors. Just tilt the spinning discs up 90 degrees from the direction you want to go. Your feet only contact the spinning disc's top because of all the other discs supporting your feet, so you go in the tangential direction of the spin.
Thanks Lanny for sharing! Everytime i go to Disney I think the Imagineers have the coolest job. Maybe some day I'll join them!
Congratulations are in order! That's a heck of a lot of work, and Mr. Smoot, you deserve the praise!
I always wondered how someone would finally figure out the omnidirectional floor like that. I want to see how they explain it. Congrats to him and Disney and everyone involved in the Holofloor. That is so amazing, someone got the idea into reality. Hope you can expand the idea to a larger surface and get into some previously unfathomable applications!
it’s 10 meters deep
amazing. congrats lanny!
These have been done before but I don't think I've seen one done so smoothly and perfectly, it's so thin and looks so simple, amazing genius work.
See that's where I get a little more skeptical. I can't tell how far this device built into to floor, or if it's not at all. Lol
The world needs more Lanny
Very cool. And I can definitely see applications for virtual reality, especially at home. Selling virtual reality mats or something like that to keep people centered instead of bumping into things would definitely be welcome.
Yes I'd love to have this!
It's so compact as well! No different than your average rug. Most other VR treadmills are so dang cumbersome.
The fact that it can move any object in any direction is just mindblowing.
Congratulations to you, sir! Thank you for the many decades of magic!
Imagine being able to bring objects from any floor in your home to you, or vehicles that can move on the roads thanks to this floor, this is insane!
Now THAT is impressive
Lanny has a spectacular career and great intelligence. Congratulations on the award and recognition😍😍😍
Congratulations!! You have truly brought magic to the world.
To be in the same sentence as Walt? Thats incredible!!! Congrats!!!
This is one step closer to the Star Trek Holodeck.
Although Disney doesn't own Star Trek.
*yet@@writerpatrick
@@writerpatrick not yet. 😂
That last invention can and will change so many peoples lives. I work in the medical field and thought of several ways we could use that floor. I hope he gets all the recognition for it and Disney supports the products momentum.
This is so cool! Excited to see how we can use the floor in vr and in theme park experiences. Congrats Lenny!!!
Cool invention, but the interviewer guy read the script like I did in my 6th grade presentation lol
bro had the kid disney voice lol
Awesome step forward. Would love to see this in a rollable mat form. Wondering in this demo, what machinery exists under the stage to make it happen.
that floor is amazing really gives the sense of magic
That floor is genius.
The floor is not wheels, they are hex blocks that can flick up or down on any wanted hex side by software. To go in specific direction, you flick blocks area DOWN on one hex side very fast, then UP slower in opposite direction, the speed asymmetry of slip and slide can cause the object to go in desired direction.
Dude's an absolute genius. This floor is going to completely change VR.
Congratulations on the Inventors Hall of Fame induction, Lanny! To be recognized alongside Walt Disney himself is such an honor.
This is so cold, and so recited, there’s no emotion. Like, this is a good achievement, there should be emotion in both of them.
Intriguing. I'm an animator myself. Hopefully I get work at Walt Disney Animation Studios someday. Some of my former classmates work there now. I'm a dark skin male myself and I have never heard of Lanny either. Most people haven't heard of Ub Iwerks either, who is the true creator of Mickey Mouse. I learned about him in History of Animation class. I worked at Pixar as an intern in Summer 2019. It was the most amazing experience.
Would've been cute after the fade to hear Lanny say, "Okay, somebody get me off this thing!" Fantastic work - glad to see artistic innovation at Disney, even if it is just behind the scenes for now.