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Disney’s New Huggable Robots

Disney’s New Huggable Robots

Martin Buehler, Executive R&D Imaginer at Walt Disney, took the stage at RoboBusiness 2017 to encourage all organizations to prepare for a future in robotics by stepping outside their comfort zone. He urged participants to use their creativity for user-friendly design and enhancing the customer experience.

Earlier this year, Disney applied for a  patent on “soft-body” robots designed for “physical interaction with humans.”

The design specifies the inside to be filled with gas or air with a rigid support system. Pressure sensors would be installed to delineate between contact and no-contact from a human source, such as from hugging a favorite character.

While a patent application does not guarantee the idea will come to fruition, Disney has previously hinted at the possibility of character robots interacting with visitors at its parks.

Jon Snoddy, Disney’s Senior VP for Research and Development, commented that the idea will require extensive testing before a complete roll-out to gauge park visitors’ reactions and acceptance of the technology. “I think AI and machine learning is going to be very important for what we do. Things like characters that can move around among our guests. They’re going to need to understand where they’re going, have goals, and they’re going to have to know how to navigate in a world with humans.” He acknowledges that Disney isn’t looking to attract visitors to see robots and artificial intelligence, but characters that incorporate those systems and engage on an emotional level with park guests are the real goal.

Collaborative robots have been designed for the industrial sector with similar goals in mind: allow for human interaction with robots like never before. In many cases, safety guarding is not necessary and the cobot and human worker can work together in close proximity where the cobot acts as another arm and hand. 

Find out more about collaborative robots for industrial manufacturing here.

Oct 18th 2017

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