00:00Inside a secret California R&D lab, Disney is quietly building the future of theme parks.
00:06As part of a massive $60 billion expansion, engineers are constructing an army of robots
00:12designed to entertain and interact with guests.
00:15First up are autonomous underwater performers.
00:19Disney is using technology similar to sensors found in self-driving cars
00:23and hydrofoils to build lifelike aquatic robots,
00:26like a car-sized Moana manta ray and mechanical dolphin-like creatures,
00:32turning the park's underutilized waterways into daytime stages for synchronized shows.
00:37The dolphin-like robots feature GPS technology to know where they're going
00:41and operate almost like a jet ski, but they still require a human operator.
00:45But the innovation doesn't stop in the water.
00:48Disney is partnering with the Mandalorian filmmakers to create Star Wars-themed food carts
00:53where hovering droids deliver beverages using magnetic levitation.
00:57Meanwhile, classic rides like Pirates of the Caribbean are getting an upgrade
01:01with hyper-realistic, projection-mapped animatronic faces that convey lifelike human emotions.
01:07The ultimate goal? Prepping the ground for Disneyland Abu Dhabi,
01:11set to be Disney's most technologically ambitious location when it opens in the years to come.
Comments