The Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development team is always for new and innovative ways to bring Disney-owned characters to life. They have now succeeded in creating a free-roaming walking Baby Groot robot and it’s freakin’ awesome!
Not only can the robot walk, but it can also gesture, and emote according to whatever is needed at the time.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development is developing a small-scale, free-roaming robotic actor that can take on the role of our similarly-sized Disney characters. Its tightly integrated design provides over 50 degrees of freedom in a compact platform that can walk, gesture, and emote in style. Using custom authoring tools that combine whole-body motion planning and traditional character animation, artists can quickly bring robotic characters to life with expressive motions and interactive behaviors. There are no immediate plans for use in Disney theme parks; however, a prototype in the form of Groot is being used to test unique traits, gaits and capabilities.
This is incredibly impressive and I can’t wait to see this in real life!