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Disney can now have robot characters, and even Olaf from the Frozen movies, walk bipedally, around and over obstacles, around its theme parks.
"Reinforcement learning is a branch of artificial intelligence which allows us to take animated figures, bring them into simulation, and then teach them how to walk, as if they were a young baby. We can do 10,000 hours worth of training in days."
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The below fascinating technical video from Disney Research Hub shows how Disney is also using reinforcement learning to teach robots how to fall. This way, in the event a bipedal robot is hit with a force the breaks its stance, it will fall softly, to avoid damage to certain components, and in a stylized manner. ...
I would think this would also delight guests, who would see a robot falling in a totally unplanned accident, and then watch it improvise a stylized fall that ends in a charismatic, even comedic, pose. ...
See the full story here: https://boingboing.net/2025/12/01/disneys-new-generation-of-robots-have-taught-themselves-how-to-walk-flawlessly-and-fall-flawlessly.html