Animatronics have been part of Disney parks since the 1960s and have been evolving ever since. Disney’s latest endeavor is to make their robots not only free-roaming, but also capable of emotion.
An executive said, quote, “A new trend that is coming into our animatronics is a level of intelligence . . . more believable . . . more outrageous.”
Guests will be given a more personalized experience with more “extreme” characters from Marvel and “Star Wars” like Groot, the Hulk, or even possibly Grogu, which you may know as Baby Yoda.
Don’t worry, there are no plans for robots to replace human performers like the princesses or even Mickey Mouse.
Cameras and sensors will give the robots the ability to make quick choices about what to do and say, or how to express emotion.
One of the newest animatronics is already at the parks. It’s a “stuntronic” robot of Spider-Man in California Adventure’s Avengers Campus and it flies in the air doing web-slinging stunts.
“Project Kiwi” is currently underway, which is a young Groot. He still has to be tested in the parks though, before being officially unveiled. (Uproxx, NY Times)
(You can see a video of the Spider-Man robot here.)
