April 17, 2024

Uy Pham

11th Grade

Fountain Valley High School

Introduction

What if you could walk forever in an immersive virtual world, yet still physically remain in the same place? With Disney’s new HoloTile floor, visitors at Disney’s various attraction parks may soon be able to do so thanks to this new technology. 

The Walt Disney Company’s Imagineering Lab in Glendale, California, is a land of innovation and exploration for engineers, commonly referred to as Imagineers, and artists to explore various technological and scientific concepts to enhance the magic that Disney provides in its various theme parks. One of the most renowned Imagineers, Lanny Smoot, has 106 patents and has recently been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the first Disney employee to receive that honor since Walt Disney himself. One has probably seen several of his inventions during their visit to Disney’s theme parks—he’s created electromagnetic eyes, interactive robots, and lightsabers in various Disney attractions. 

Smoot’s latest invention? The HoloTile floor. It allows a person to walk infinitely in any direction; however, the person remains in the same place on the floor. The floor adjusts to a person’s movements in any direction and can manage users at any speed up to Usain Bolt’s sprinting pace. Multiple people can step on the floor at the same time, making the HoloTile floor an omnidirectional, multi-person treadmill apparatus.

How HoloTile works

While Disney has not allowed outsiders to take their own videos and research into technology, the HoloTile floor essentially functions as an arrangement of hundreds of tiny and tile-like disks. The disks can be arranged to any size or shape depending on the requirements of the physical space or the intended goal of the arrangement. Utilizing sensors that help to facilitate the synchronizing movement of the rotating disks, a person steps foot onto the HoloTile floor and seems to be moving despite the person standing in the same physical spot in the room. The mechanism can be described as the disks of the HoloTiler floor working to “undo” the movement of a person and keep them in the physically same space. The illusion of movement is created, but not physical movement throughout the floor space.

The technology can be used to move objects as well, with the disks rotating to move the object around the floor. With a large amount of tile-like disks composing the HoloTile floor, multiple people can step onto the floor at the same time; the disks will still be able to rotate and match the movement of each person in any direction at the same time. The aim is for the HoloTile floor to be a multi-personal, omnidirectional treadmill as opposed to current treadmills that are often bulky and designed for single-person use at one time. 

Holodeck

Smoot credits the popular series Star Trek for igniting his passion and imagination in the world of electrical engineering. Smoot cites the Holodeck, as featured in Star Trek, as one of the sources of inspiration for his inventing of the HoloTile floor. By utilizing holographic projections, characters were able to enter and infinitely explore virtual environments while still confined in an enclosed space.

Through this technology, one’s vision, depth perception, and spatial awareness could be manipulated to create the illusion of movement through a virtual environment without ever moving physically in the simulation room. The floor could adjust itself, just like the HoloTile floor, to control the movement in a singular space and even create feelings of change of elevation. Virtual tactile experiences could be stimulated to feel physically with a sense of touch. The characters were able to use these rooms to run various training scenarios or indulge themselves in a different reality such as sports games or laboratories. 

Future implications at Disney and beyond

Although Disney has not determined an exact use for the HoloTile floor, what is certain is that this new technology will help contribute toward goals of enhancing virtual reality experiences such as the ones created by the Holodeck. One can pretend to have the abilities of the Force just like Jedi from Star Wars by moving objects around using the disks of the HoloTile floor. Smoot himself suggests that the floor can be used for new techniques and acts for various performances or dance choreography. Since the technology of the HoloTile floor is applicable to any size or shape, the possibilities are limitless as to what experience Disney may end up choosing to simulate for its visitors. For Smoot, he hopes that just like his other inventions, people will be able to unite and enjoy joyful experiences by exploring the unlimited possibilities of virtual environments while walking on a HoloTiler floor. 

Beyond the magic of Disney, there have been advances in creating virtual reality technology that can help stimulate an expansive environment within a physically enclosed space. The aim is for the technology to be able to simulate all five senses within a virtual environment. Current developments relate to using artificial intelligence to create different fields of view for each individual eye to further simulate depth perception or tracking software that follows a hand to simulate tactile experiences. Holophonic sounds, or a binaural (both ears) audio recording mechanism, work to mimic the real movement of sound waves through the environment. The Second International Conference on Holodecks to be hosted at the end of 2024 has a goal of helping visitors explore the utilization of technology to immerse into a virtual and imaginary setting. 

The current utilization of virtual reality to help simulate a virtual environment has helped to train and develop various professions for different circumstances. These types of technologies have been presented to be used to simulate 3D environments while taking into account the tactile nature of furniture and other obstacles within a virtual space without leaving a physically confining indoor space. NASA has a Virtual Reality Lab to simulate spacewalks for further exploration. It has also helped to create mock designs of healthcare facilities to test how the various designs may be accessed if they were to be built, or researchers have proposed using this technology to create virtual real estate models for potential homebuyers or investors. VR has been piloted for various therapy intervention techniques and support surgical training. Lastly, healthcare workers have used similar technology to practice escaping a fire in an enclosed space such as an operating room. 

Whether it's within the attractions of Disney or beyond, the development of the HoloTile floor represents a crucial step toward creating virtual environments that we can explore endlessly and without boundaries without leaving the haven of physically enclosed spaces in our reality.