WoC Glow with the Show tech

[k5jm]

Nancy asked me toost this over here. (and as Tom said, it is a Magic spoiler )

OK, this is pretty darn cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr18V3grRYs

But I think I have it figured out.

There are several nearfield transmitters on the Speaker towers that are able to break the crowd into as many as 10 zones. When you have the hats on your head, the hat's micro controller looks for the strongest of several frequencies. Each Frequency is in a certain zone. Inside that zone each hat is also assigned a module address of 0 thru 26 This would allow for the alternating patterns. Pretty cool stuff. It operates on 915mhz.

My guess is that it is using the Zigbee protocol based on how Zigbee works, its cost, and its reliability.

From Disney Research in Pittsburg, PA

Activity and Mobility Modeling of Theme Park Guests

Guest services offered in parks and resorts may rely on wireless communication in the future. Examples are location-based applications, mobile games, information guides, multimedia sharing, and mobile social networks. Rolling out a wireless infrastructure to support such services in parks may create challenges beyond deployment and maintenance. For example, access points and antennas may be too visible and might interfere with artistic intentions. However, a continuous connectivity provided by base stations and cellular infrastructure is not always needed. Instead, direct links between the wireless devices carried by guests might provide enough capacity. The adhoc mode of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or ZigBee enables wireless devices to communicate directly when within each other’s coverage range. Additional mesh networks might assist only where needed at key locations. Naturally, such adhoc communication will experience occasional disruptions as wireless links will appear and disappear with the guest mobility. The effect of the disruptions depends on the number and density of devices and the guest activity like walking speed or directions. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the performance of future wireless communication with tools using realistic mobility and activity models.
Existing models and tools are either simplistic and do not correspond to specific real-world mobility scenarios, or they target common locations such as mobility in city centers. We aim to create activity models that target entertainment theme parks and capture mobility characteristics of park guests, such as their arrival and departure times and positions in the park. Our models are implemented in a simulator and used to generate realistic mobility patterns for large-scale evaluation of wireless systems. The mobility in the simulator is driven by the activities that guests are interested in while enjoying the parks (visiting attractions and street performances, restaurants, or shopping areas, etc.). We use park data and GPS traces to calibrate and validate our models.

Cool use of the technology.



...and FYI, since this is a bi-directional technology, Disney can track you in the parks anywhere they have Zigbee radios. Your hat is now a locator and flow control tool.

 

[k5jm]

It is based on this technology for an interactive wand...

http://eclecti.cc/wireless/magic-wands-zigbee-enabled-group-gaming

 

[tefrench]

Love this!!!

 

[jkh1978]

Can I build something at home to control them?

 

[Vexorg]

I have to imagine that it won't take long for hackers to get a hold of these and start tinkering with them. I know there's something similar to this that's been used in Blue Man Group's shows for the finale, where giant balloons are sent out into the audience with lights inside that change color in sync with each other. I have to imagine this would work in a similar fashion' albeit on a larger scale. You can see a video of this in action here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpGWY86D0rM

 

[disneegrl4eva]

so does this mean they wont glow and change colors when you take them home????

 

[jenergy]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

[k5jm]

Can I build something at home to control them?

I am sure you can. You just have to get a Zigbee test/developer kit.

so does this mean they wont glow and change colors when you take them home????

They should still work/light-up outside of the parks in set patterns.