Drones could rule the skies over Disney

Drones could help Disney create massive floating light shows. Disney/US Patent and Trademark Office

What could be more magical than Disney fireworks, light shows and multifarious water fountains? These things plus high-tech entertainment with drones.

Walt Disney Co. has filed three patent applications that could let it provide complex aerial entertainment shows with the support of drones. The applications involve floating projection screens, marionettes supported by drones, and a synchronized aerial light display with "floating pixels."

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"In the entertainment industry, there are many applications where it is desirable to provide an aerial display," Disney wrote in the patent applications. "For example, an amusement park may have a lagoon or other open space over which it is desired to present a display to entertain visitors. In another example, massively large aerial displays may be presented at sport stadiums or other venues to celebrate holidays such as New Year's Day."

Disney wrote that without the use of drones, aerial shows are challenging. Additionally, there's a limit to how fantastic the company can get with simple fireworks, light shows, and water fountains.

If Disney could create a massive marionette and use drones to pull its strings as it ambles through the sky -- that would certainly wow onlookers. Or, what about a sky-born display screen where people could watch Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella dance around?

When drones enter the picture, it appears the creative options are endless.

(Via Stitch Kingdom)

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Disney balances irregular objects for a perfect spin

Disney Research

The team started by adjusting solid models with hollow voids in the interior. The centre of mass is also placed as low on the rotation axis as possible. This balances the asymmetrical form factor of the object, allowing it to spin, while 3D printing allowed the team to rapidly prototype their objects.

For objects where hollowing wasn't effective, the team used "cage-based deformation", deforming both the interior and exterior voids to smooth the shape into one that better allowed for hollowing. Finally, they used a technique they called "dual-density optimisation"; that is, using materials of multiple densities as fill, allowing the external shape to remain unmodified.

"Our approach is effective on a wide range of models, from characters such as an elephant balancing on its toe, or an armadillo break-dancing on its shell, to abstract shapes," said Moritz Bächer, a post-doctoral researcher at Disney Research Zurich. "It's well-suited to objects that can be produced with a 3D printer, which we used to make tops and yo-yos with unusual shapes but remarkably stable spins."

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Amazon halts preorders of some Disney movie discs

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. CNET

Amazon has restricted preorders of some movies from Disney in an apparent contract dispute with another media giant.

Preorder options are currently unavailable at the Internet retailer for physical copies of "Muppets Most Wanted," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Million Dollar Arm," and "Maleficent." However, preorders of digital versions on Amazon Instant Video are still available.

The situation is reminiscent of an apparent dispute between Amazon and Warner Home Video in which preorders of discs for "The Lego Movie," "Transcendence," and "300: Rise of an Empire" vanished from the site earlier this summer. Amazon hasn't publicly commented on that situation, but it's thought that the move is intended to apply pressure on Warner to gain greater margin on each sale.

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Amazon has admitted to employing a similar strategy in a contract negotiations standoff with book publisher Hachette. Amazon said in May it was restricting sales of titles from the publisher after the two were unable to agree on mutually acceptable contract terms. Amazon did not elaborate on the terms proposed but defended the move as a legitimate negotiating tactic aimed at getting more value for consumers.

The apparent conflict was first reported HomeMediaMagazine. CNET has contacted Amazon and Disney for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

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How Disney World is keeping tabs on visitors with rubbery wristbands

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Beginning last year, Disney World started issuing "MagicBands," rubberized RFID wristbands that can do everything from unlock your hotel room to act as a fast pass to get you slotted to skip the long lines on rides. It also tracks your every move and lets you buy things. With tens of thousands of visitors to the park every day, Disney is amassing a wealth of personal information on its customers. "MagicBands offer a kind of data tourism, an uncanny experience of a future in which we don't just tolerate surveillance but openly embrace it as fashion," Ian Bogost says in his article on the technology. Read the full piece, and see what the inside of a MagicBand looks like, on Medium.

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