April 17, 2026, 2:37 PM ·
Patent applications published this week detail new ways that Disney and Universal are trying refine their theme park attractions.Disney’s application deals with augmented reality attractions. One of the tricks in creating a successful AR illusion is getting the calibration right. You want the projected AR elements to line up precisely with the “real world” environment, so that the illustrated elements appears exactly when designers intended. Theme parks can do that through the use of embedded calibration points in the real world environment. But no theme park visitor wants to see little red dots or reflectors that disrupt the look of a scene. Disney’s patent application addresses that problem with a method for hiding those calibration points – with a diffusion layer that effectively shields the calibration point from the human eye.
Illustration from Disney’s patent application“A visual indicator assembly includes a retroreflective layer and a diffusion layer coupled to and positioned over at least a portion of the retroreflective layer,” the application said. “The diffusion layer reduces reflection of light from the retroreflective layer for at least one viewpoint relative to the visual indicator assembly.”The application is Hidden Visual Indicator System and Methods.Over at Universal, the company has filed a new application for its proposed method to harvest and deploy power in a game controller.Any gamer knows the frustration of having your controller run out of battery or charge. Now imagine running a theme park attraction with dozens of wireless controllers. Any way to extend the charge life of those controllers would be welcomed. After all, charging time is down time.Universal proposes something that reminds me of how hybrid or electric cars can harvest power for the engine while braking. Universal’s method imagines a controller that harvests acoustic waves to power its own special effects, such as lights or haptics.
Illustration from Universal’s patent applicationHere is what is happening, according to the application: “The acoustic harvesting system includes a resonant chamber, an electro-mechanical transducer, and a power storage device. The resonant chamber includes an open end and a flexible end and is configured to receive acoustic waves through the open end and reflect the acoustic waves within the resonant chamber, where the flexible end is configured to move in response to receiving the acoustic waves. The electromechanical transducer is coupled to the flexible end, where a magnet and a coil of the electro-mechanical transducer are configured to move relative to each other in response to a movement of the flexible end to cause a change in an electromagnetic field of the electro-mechanical transducer to harvest power. The power storage device stores the harvested power and is configured to supply the harvested power to the special effect system.” The application is Interactive Object Systems and Methods.For my weekend update of theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider’s weekend newsletter.
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