Originally Posted By HokieSkipper Can't agree, Merf. It's all about pushing the envelope. It's what Universal is doing, and it's something these figures can do. The fact is they give up too easily. Something good engineers shouldn't do. They think they can't fix these problems, and they quit. Something that is inexcusable, IMO.
Originally Posted By mousermerf But other engineers have fixed many of the problem they are running into. There are many many MANY... I'll say it one more time.. MANY ..better articulated realistic figures out there in the market being designed by other firms. Imagineering is simply trying to do it in house.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> It's what Universal is doing, and it's something these figures can do. << I'm just not convinced these figures can get to the point where they move beyond the novelty factor. It's clear to see how AAs served as "actors" in three-dimensional "movies." But what can a Living Character do that's unique? Say your name? (Sounds like a novelty that holds the potential to replace good storytelling.) Physically interact with you? (Does anyone wish the pirates in POTC would single you out? Does HM lack something because the ghosts aren't walking up to you?) Is the idea for these Living Characters to replace walk-around characters? I guess I could see that happening to a certain extent. But I'm not convinced that attractions built around the LCI will "push the envelope." At least, not in the way that Harry Potter seems poised to do.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Agreed that Disney needs to keep trying on this. Pierce- What did Doobie say about the WALL-E AA? I know it crashed once on GMA, but all the other runs it had, like in Miami, and in LA, and in NYC, it was fine. Great, really. Interacted in Spanish with us in Miami. Heh.
Originally Posted By MPierce It was LeeMac who made the comment, not Dobbie EE.I wish he were here to answer the question, but the best I remember he said Wall-E was having ongoing problems, and was not reliable enough for park use. If I am wrong I hope LeeMac drops in, and corrects me.
Originally Posted By mousermerf ' How exactly did we get to a point in history where we make thing and they don't work and that's acceptable? I mean, look at our operating systems.. like Windows.. which is inherently broken. That still makes all kinds of money despite not actually working very well. And people get paid to make new worse working versions of it, and we still accept that.. Like how Disney people keep making robots that don't work and somehow stay on the payroll.. I don't believe that was acceptable back in the day. I believe things actually had to work before we came up with all this beta and patch and revision nonsense.
Originally Posted By MPierce Nobody saids it's acceptable Merf. This is just new technology that they are actively trying to improve. Do you really expect Disney to throw their hands up, and quit everytime they have a set back to an ongoing project. Nothing would ever get completed. >> I don't believe that was acceptable back in the day. I believe things actually had to work before we came up with all this beta and patch and revision nonsense. << You have to have limited test in the parks to see what the best application with the Living Character will be, and if it will hold up. There's just no way around it. That's what the LCI has always been about.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Why? Why does it have to be in the parks? How many of these dumb things have failed and fallen apart and slumped in a heap in front of paying guests? All of them. Not acceptable. They don't test them. They make promises, they don't test, they under estimate maintenance costs and then get all uppity when operations doesn't want to keep forking out for the expense of keeping their pet projects going for them when they don't function reliably as attractions. You can test things, can simulate conditions - didn't you go through Test Track like everyone else? Didn't you visit UL's Test the Limits Lab? You do not need to put a hunk of junk in a park to prove it's going to fail - you simply need to put it through the motions. It's that it is at all acceptable to fail that allows them to get away with this continued ridiculousness.
Originally Posted By MPierce The LCI is very unique, and seems to be a big hit with folks. You can not simulate interaction with thousands of guest, and the challenges involved in working around, and attracting small children. You have to do that in real life situations. Only time, and money will tell if the project is worth it. While I have yet to see one in person, I totally support this effort by Disney.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Does anyone wish the pirates in POTC would single you out? << Perhaps the Red Head. >> Is the idea for these Living Characters to replace walk-around characters? I guess I could see that happening to a certain extent. But I'm not convinced that attractions built around the LCI will "push the envelope." At least, not in the way that Harry Potter seems poised to do. << Maybe they will maybe they won't. I just look at them as another little side treat, if nothing else.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> Perhaps the Red Head. << I set you up for that one. >> Maybe they will maybe they won't. I just look at them as another little side treat, if nothing else. << I agree they can certainly be nice diversions that add to the parks' atmospheres. But at this point, I'd prefer to see Disney pulling out the big guns not to create these diversions but to give us classic attractions. It's like using a cannon to swat a fly. You may eventually succeed, but you could've used that firepower for something more substantial.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper More people on the web confirming Luxo is indeed dead. Bravo, mouse, the cheapness astounds me more and more everyday.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I set you up for that one. << Thanks, I just couldn't resist! >> I agree they can certainly be nice diversions that add to the parks' atmospheres. But at this point, I'd prefer to see Disney pulling out the big guns not to create these diversions but to give us classic attractions. It's like using a cannon to swat a fly. You may eventually succeed, but you could've used that firepower for something more substantial. << I agree Leo. Disney needs an impact player in the game to compete with Harry Potter. There's no doubt about that. The LCI is certainly not ready to do that by any means. However, I would like to see them continue to develope these characters, if for nothing else, just as a backdrop for bigger, and better things. Will that happen? I certainly hope so, but I have my doubts at this stage of the game.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> More people on the web confirming Luxo is indeed dead. Bravo, mouse, the cheapness astounds me more and more everyday. << I will toast his memory tonight. I was certainly hoping this was going to turn out to be a temporary thing Maybe they can bury him next to the Yeti.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>I mean, look at our operating systems.. like Windows.. which is inherently broken. That still makes all kinds of money despite not actually working very well. And people get paid to make new worse working versions of it, and we still accept that.. << Gotta say it, Merfy...when you are right, you are right. Perfect analogy. Disney needs to do something NEW and something that WORKS...not continue to try and plus something old. In this field, at least. WoC, I think, will do that, but in a new area.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>More people on the web confirming Luxo is indeed dead. Bravo, mouse, the cheapness astounds me more and more everyday. << I don't trust those people. Still waiting on more confirmation.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Don't blame cheap - that's like saying Epcot is "too cheap" to install a holodeck. You'd need one that functions first for them to be too cheap to install and maintain it.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Didn't everyone hear??? Luxo was arrested and convicted for murder and was recently executed!!! Probably why nobody has seen him in the park lately!!! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFK_XuVqsCQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..._XuVqsCQ</a>
Originally Posted By leemac <<Calling LeeMac. What is going on with Disney's Living Character Initative? It seems like they no sooner get them built than they start having problems.>> There isn't anything harder out there than an environmental fully functioning AA. All five resorts operate in some fairly extreme conditions and that throws up a whole heap load of problems. Automated figures do not like heat or humidity - all five resorts have at least one of those for long periods of the year and three of them have both. LCI is still a work-in-progress. It all started with the Simba wrist-wrapper and has come along in leaps and bounds since then which was barely a decade ago. Lucky demonstrated that it was possible to have a free-roaming AA that had life-like movements. His main problem was the power source - he required a lot of juice to move around (hence why he doesn't walk much in his current home on the ABD tour of WDI and his most recent public outing at D23). Arguably the most successful aspect was the skin which worked very well. Since then we have seen Muppet Mobile Lab, Roz, Mister Potato Head and Luxo Jr. The point of this half of LCI is to create characters in a form other than rubberheads and to ensure that they can move and operate in a realistic way. Imagine being able to come across Kevin from Up in the wilds of Animal Kingdom - just hiding in the trees waiting to be found outside the normal conventions of a theme park such as scheduled Meet n Greets. It takes characters out of their usual surrounds (typically highly-controlled environments either in show buildings or Meet n Greets) and allows guests to experience them first-hand and up close and personal. There are just so many characters that you can't recreate properly in a walk-around form. LCI was only ever supposed to be a value-added experience to the parks that allowed for pixie-dusting - personal and tailored experiences for guests. The next generation of Push if you like. The second half of LCI is the digitally animated experiences like Stitch Video Phone, Turtle Talk with Crush and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. Again this is a way to bring characters to life using modern techniques. Crush can't exist in the usual theme park environment but he can exist in real-time CGI. It seems most of the park enthusiasts don't like these shows but they score highly on guest satisfaction surveys (make of that what you will). You can't have an entire park filled with these shows - much like 3D experiences you could strongly advocate only one per park (at the most) but they do add to the overall experience. I'm a huge advocate of this programme. I think it has made some significant innovations thanks to the combined skills of WDI R&D and the story-telling creativity layered over that technology by Joe Garlington's team. Even more of these experiences will appear on the Disney Dream next year and at the Hawaiian resort - some of them will be amazing (I love the changing portraits on-board the ships). The problem with the environmental AAs will always be reliability. These are hugely complex AAs that need to work in harsh conditions such as direct sunlight and stifling humidity for extended periods. I'm sure the R&D AA team will crack that nut eventually. But you need to test in public - there is only so much that can be tested in lab conditions. One of the series of stories that I am most proud of in Tales is our LCI coverage. Ever since Issue 3 when we talked extensively to then R&D head Bruce Vaughn about the genesis of Lucky we have been able to share the real stories behind LCI. I think that if folks read those stories they would at least understand why the programme exists and what it is trying to achieve. They could then judge whether it has been a success or not.
