It is week four of the year, and yet another massive firm is entering the XR space by way of Disney. The international media conglomerate is in the headlines this week with its Holotile breakthrough, a prototype device that acts as a VR input treadmill, allowing various users to walk around a shared virtual environment without requiring a controller.
Disney’s Holotile is an omnidirectional treadmill that users can stand and walk on, translating their steps as movement input for an XR application/experience. Unlike other omnidirectional treadmill products, Disney’s Holotile can support various users thanks to an un-invasive, modular, and expandable prototype.
It appears that Disney is creating its omnidirectional product for use in its theme park attractions; however, with its incredible reach, the technology may find other homes. Notably, Disney has experimented with XR services at its theme parks to explore new modes of customer on-site engagement, marketing, and advertising.
Disney Research, a group the firm uses to develop innovative emerging technologies, highlighted the device in a YouTube video this weekend. In it, the Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer, Lanny Smoot, showcased the device, “so I can walk on this omnidirectional floor, in any direction I want. It will automatically do whatever it needs to have me stay on the floor, and what’s about this is that multiple people can all be on it and all walking independently,” Smoot said.
He also added:
Imagine a number of people being in a room, being able to be somewhere else collaboratively and moving around doing sightseeing. Imagine theatrical stages that might have these [Holotiles] embedded in them so that dancers an do amazing moves. So, there are so many applications for this type of technology and we don’t know yet where it will be used.
With Disney now making a firm mark, in its own way and within its own bubble, on the XR device marketplace, the optics of XR will only grow. Alongside Apple’s marketplace debut next week, XR devices may have their mainstream moment in 2024.
While years past, the Metaverse and Meta Quest held the title of most mainstream XR coverage, Apple and now Disney’s interest in the space – not forgetting other big firms aiming sights directly at XR such as Sony, Google, and Samsung – a whole new wave of XR investments may come; with enterprise XR avenues gaining increased support as XR may go mainstream [again].
Disney’s History with XR
To some, Disney’s dive into XR hardware with its Holotile debut could seem out of the blue; however, this couldn’t be further from the truth – despite ups and downs.
Since 2022, Disney worked on various XR initiatives to help build start-ups and to assist with the firm’s own R&D into Disney-branded XR entertainment services.
In June 2022, Disney hired Mark Bozon as VP of Next Generation Storytelling Creative Experiences to push first-party Metaverse content and services – as was the style at the time.
Soon after, Disney also opened its Web3 Accelerator program to incubate XR start-ups, hosting a range of companies and solutions such as Polygon Studios, Flickplay, Lockerverse, Inworld, Obess, and Red 6.
The 2022 hiring and accelerator program came amid Disney’s attempt to hop on the Metaverse hype wave, introducing AR streaming and other XR content alongside partners like Snap and Apple.
However, in 2023, the momentum shifted. Following a lull in Metaverse belief, Disney reportedly axed roughly 7,000 jobs, having dire consequences on its Metaverse divisions – other than this, Disney kept relatively quiet in the XR space for most of last year.
Now that Holotile is in the picture, this could mark Disney hopping on the current hype trend of XR devices. Many others are also entering the space, but with so many headset solutions coming to market, Disney could be taking the correct approach in working on an underdeveloped area of XR devices – omnidirectional treadmills – and creating a legacy building device where others are not.
While the Holotile product could see easy implementation at its resorts, the firm has not confirmed tests with other parties. Will the device allow Disney to hold a unique stake in the market, or will the product fizzle out like its Metaverse campaign? If the past repeats itself, we may find out at the end of the year.
On the other hand, some XR prototype devices may be a simple proof of concept and may not hit end-users for years; a similar example is Google’s Starline project – first shown in 2021 – which aimed to reinvent remote meetings but is still under development.
Disney has many resources at hand and seemingly could be fit to invest the time and capital to make such a futuristic product possible.
