Just as Disney announced that Lanny Smoot will become the first Disney employee outside of Walt to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Disney unveiled the HoloTile floor that will take the virtual reality experience one step further. Smoot is known as one of Disney’s most prolific inventors, and his latest invention, HoloTile, offers an unlimited walking experience in a virtual world. This technological floor brings real and imaginary worlds together, inviting users into an immersive experience. Smoot is a remarkable engineer, having received more than 100 patents during his 25-year Disney career. Disney celebrates this achievement with a blog post and a video introducing the HoloTile floor.
Disney HoloTile
Disney inducted Lanny Smoot into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, introducing the HoloTile floor that could revolutionize virtual reality. HoloTile is designed as a versatile treadmill floor that allows users to walk in any direction. The floor is made up of small circular pieces that move and rotate in response to the user’s steps, allowing them to move in any direction.
When introducing HoloTile, Disney mentioned several features that make the virtual reality experience even more immersive. The floor keeps users centered on the platform, allowing for effortless navigation through landscapes in the virtual world.
One of the most notable features of HoloTile is that multiple people can be on the same platform and each walk in a different direction. This makes it ideal for group virtual activities. Smoot noted that HoloTile can be used not only on the playground, but also to rig stages to allow dancers to perform complex routines.
HoloTile is the Next Step in Virtual Reality
The HoloTile floor takes the virtual reality experience even further, taking users on a unique journey between reality and imagination. In the future, this technology could be used in many areas from theme parks to homes, allowing new discoveries in the virtual world.
This technology could bring us closer to Star Trek’s Holodeck experience. The HoloTile floor is called “the world’s first multi-person, versatile, modular, expandable, treadmill floor”. Consisting of many tiles, this floor aims to give people a shared virtual reality experience. In this way, it may be possible to walk unlimited distances and the risk of collision may be eliminated.
Disney states that the HoloTile floor will not be limited to virtual reality. The floor can be added to theater stages and offer new movement and dance possibilities for artists. It is also possible to move objects. This technological floor keeps the user centered on the platform, making it possible to navigate the virtual world effortlessly. HoloTile gives the viewer the feeling of moving in an unlimited space, while in fact being confined to a defined area.
HoloTile is made up of small, circular pieces that move and rotate in response to the user’s steps, allowing movement in all directions. Multiple people can be on the same platform and walk in different directions, not blocking each other’s paths.
Lanny Smoot says that HoloTile can be used not only for VR, but also in other areas, such as dancers performing complex routines and in theme parks.
He highlights the HoloTile technology and its future potential, a breath of fresh air that Disney is bringing to the world of innovation. This technology aims to take virtual reality even further and offer users more immersive experiences.
