When will Star Wars droids roam freely around Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge?
The J4-K3 droid, part of Imagineering’s autonomous character pilot program, has more sensors than a self-driving car, according to Walt Disney Imagineering research and development manager Ashley Girdich.
During the tests, Jake appeared to recognize and interact with his surroundings — rolling up to control panels inside Launch Bay and marveling at R2-D2 and C-3PO in Tomorrowland’s Star Trader shop window. Jake even “talked” with a series of bleeps and bloops as his head moved and lights blinked on his body.
“The day he went live outdoors I was jumping, screaming and laughing,” Girdich said in the “One Day at Disney” docuseries on the Disney+ streaming service. “People were blown away. Everyone was trying to find how he was being controlled. He was his own character without a puppeteer in the background.”
The biggest challenge for Imagineering: Keeping Jake from rolling over the tiny toes of flip flop-wearing children in the sea of humanity constantly moving around Disneyland.
“Jake is an example of a technology currently in the exploratory phase, with no decisions yet on where or how we will use it,” Girdich said via email. “Tomorrowland was chosen as the location our Imagineers digitally mapped to test this technology.”
Imagineering has no current plans to use the autonomous character technology in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or with any particular character or type of character.
See the full story here: https://www.ocregister.com/2019/12/17/when-will-star-wars-droids-roam-freely-around-disneylands-galaxys-edge/