As Disney unveil their new ‘Dream’ cruise liner, it’s clear that augmented reality has a very real part to play in the future of entertainment and leisure.
Visitors to the new Disney ‘Dream’ ship will have portholes, regardless of whether their room is on the inside or out. In fact, the portholes on the inside, created from high definition screens, will give a similar effect to nature, with a few Disney sea life characters for extra fun. OK, this is still not AR but you can see how the experience is being built up throughout the ship.
The interesting use of AR happens across the public areas of the ship, with 20 screens around the cruise liner changing depending on the time of day and location of the ship. The screens will be able to sense when people are standing in front of it and start animations. What’s more, the screens will lead their young visitors on a detective adventure using barcoded cards to unlock secret animations on screens throughout the ship.
We think that this type of entertainment is amazing, and a long way from the rotating animatronics of our childhood entertainment centres. What’s more amazing is to think that AR can be used for code-breaking, informative purposes too. We’re looking forward to hidden messages for serious purposes too. Messages in a screen that can educate, provide secure information, maybe even save lives. Now that would be worth dreaming about.
