Disney unveils virtual ‘HoloTile’ floor technology
Disney unveiled the HoloTile floor, created by Disney Research Fellow and longtime member of Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development Lanny Smoot.
The HoloTile floor is a multi-person, omni-directional, modular, expandable, treadmill floor. It allows any number of people to have a shared virtual reality (VR) experience, walk an unlimited distance in any direction, and never collide or walk off its surface.
The HoloTile floor can also be an insert in a theatrical stage, allowing performers to move and dance in new ways, or stage props and structures to move around or appear to set themselves up.
The new technology was revealed (see here), as Lanny Smoot is being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is the first Disney Imagineer to receive this recognition.
Smoot is also credited with giving Madame Leota her ability to “float” in the Séance Room at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park; crafting the state-of-the-art extendable lightsaber used by Disney Live Entertainment; inventing the Magic Playfloor interactive game experience on the Disney Cruise Line; producing the immersive Fortress Explorations adventure at Tokyo DisneySea; and designing the virtual and interactive koi ponds at the Crystal Lotus Restaurant at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
Disney, The Walt Disney Company
