If you're a fan of Disney's theme parks, you owe many of your magical moments to Lanny Smoot. The Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer has been behind some of the most amazing attractions and technologies that have delighted guests for decades. And now, he's getting the recognition he deserves.
106 patents
Smoot is the first Disney Imagineer and the second Disney team member ever to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and Steve Jobs. He will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on May 9, along with his fellow Class of 2024 inductees.
Smoot has a whopping 106 patents to his name, based on his inventions that have enhanced the Disney experience in various ways. Some of his remarkable accomplishments include creating the retractable and realistic lightsaber that is a major attraction at Galaxy's Edge, designing the Magic Playfloor game that is interactive and entertaining on the Disney Cruise Line, building the immersive Fortress Explorations adventure in Tokyo DisneySea, and developing the virtual and interactive koi ponds at the Crystal Lotus Restaurant in Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Smoot's visionary inventions have delighted Disney fans worldwide and added to the magic of the theme parks.
Smoot joined Walt Disney Imagineering's R&D team in 1999 after working for 20 years in the telecommunication industry and at Bell Labs. He has been pushing the boundaries of technology and imagination ever since, following in the footsteps of Walt Disney, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000 for his multiplane camera invention that revolutionized animation.
The Holotile Floor
But Smoot is not resting on his laurels. He's always working on new and exciting projects that could change how we experience entertainment and reality. One of his latest inventions is the Holotile Floor, a device that could make virtual reality more immersive and realistic than ever before.
The Holotile Floor platform comprises hundreds of small rotating discs that can tilt and spin in real-time. The floor can sense the user's footsteps and direction and adjust the discs accordingly to keep the user in the center of the platform. This way, the user can walk in place while exploring virtual environments without bumping into walls or furniture in the real world.
The Holotile Floor could open up new possibilities for VR applications, such as gaming, education, tourism, and more. It also allows VR users to feel more natural and comfortable while moving in virtual spaces instead of using controllers or teleportation. The Holotile Floor could be the next best thing to Star Trek's holodecks, where anything is possible.
The Holotile Floor could also have other uses, such as moving objects or performers around on a stage, as Smoot suggests in a recently posted Disney Parks YouTube channel video. The video shows Smoot demonstrating the Holotile Floor and explaining how it works.
The Holotile Floor has yet to be available to the public, but we hope it will be soon.
Originally published on Interesting Engineering : Original article