Originally published at: Disney Imagineer showcases a new HoloTile floor on which you walk without going anywhere - Boing Boing
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Not quite ready for a jog through the holodeck but a casual shuffle is still a good start.
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It’s been a while since I listened to Travelling Without Moving, but now I can’t stop humming Virtual Insanity!
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Ready Player One has entered the chat
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Can you dance if you want to? Can you leave your friends behind?
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Holy Cyber Soft Shoe Shuffle! 
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There are a number of different omnidirectional conveyor designs out there (including one that I patented myself in 2007) but Mr. Smoot is right that this one is special because it’s designed in a way that can be scaled up indefinitely and have lots of people moving around on it independently. Pretty important if you want to entertain the masses at a theme park. It’s not super new, though. Disney patented it in 2017, and I was fortunate enough to see Lanny demonstrate it at a “Disney Research Science Fair” back then:
By the way, the Disney Research group is the coolest team of international mad scientists that nobody has ever heard of. They have the freedom to develop wacky new technologies just because they think it’s cool, without necessarily having any practical applications in mind. Check out some of their past projects at disneyresearch.com
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How do you get off?
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Well that’s a little personal!
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How great to see someone over the age of 30 getting the chance to introduce some cool new technologies.
He seems like a really cool, really smart guy - and he has a terrific job that he clearly loves.
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Sorry, you’ll have to subscribe to my OF feed to learn about that!
(Okay, so first I’d have to make one …)
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That’s definitely true. A few months ago I took my son to see him give a guest lecture at my old University. He’s obviously super smart and he’s got a lot of great stories, like the time he built himself a sketchy but functional unicycle as a kid and taught himself to ride. He still rides unicycles today and keeps one in his office.
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Cool - I hope the children took the lesson that it’s okay to go out play, make cool stuff - and change the world for the better.
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Wondered for years how they managed that when i read they just moved the set around him. 
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Loads of laughter as you run in place while enjoying Disney’s holo-ride!!!
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It may feel like walking in a virtual space, but it looks like shuffling like my Grandpa.
Whatever happened to the VR that was supposed to take advantage of the saccade to shift the image and make you move in circles? That would limit the need for a floor like this.
