Disney Research is working bring the excitement of Disney’s fireworks shows within reach of blind guests.
Literally.
A new technology will transform the way fireworks can be experienced by turning them into tactile experience.
An explanation of the technology from the lab report…
“Tactile effects are created using directable water jets that spray onto the rear of a flexible screen, with different nozzles for different firework effects. Our approach is low-cost and scales well, and allows for dynamic tactile effects to be rendered with high spatial resolution. A user study demonstrated that the tactile effects are meaningful analogs to the visual fireworks that they represent, with sighted users able to label the correct correspondence of tactile-to-visual effects by a large margin over chance. Beyond the specific application, the technology represents a novel and cost-effective approach for making large scalable tactile displays, with the potential for wider use.”
There’s no word on whether or not the technology will actually make it into the parks, but the prospect is pretty exciting.
[Source: The Disney Blog]
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