A recently discovered patent shows the American multinational entertainment and media conglomerate, Walt Disney Company, was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a “virtual-world simulator” patent. The simulator is composed of a “three-dimensional (3D) map of the geometry of the real-world venue.”
Disney’s virtual world simulator patent follows Bob Chapek’s discussion of Disney’s metaverse
Disney’s interest in metaverse and blockchain technology has surfaced recently, as a recent patent approved in late December reveals that the entertainment giant has filed for a “virtual world simulator” concept project.
The virtual-world simulator patent follows Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s earnings call in November when he explained the firm is ready for “our own” metaverse. Chapek also highlighted that Disney was always at the forefront of the latest technologies.
“The Walt Disney Company has a long history of pioneering the use of technology to improve the entertainment experience,” Chapek remarked on the call for results. The Disney CEO added:
Our efforts to date are merely a prologue to a time when we’ll be able to connect the physical and digital worlds even more closely, allowing for storytelling without boundaries in our own Disney metaverse, and we look forward to creating unparalleled opportunities for consumers to experience everything Disney has to offer across our products and platforms, wherever the consumer may be.
Cloning of one of Disney’s 12 theme parks, sales lost due to pandemic, Disney says it has “no current plan” to launch the virtual world
U.S. Patent No. 11,210,843 filed by Disney explains that the virtual world simulator has a computer protocol that includes a hardware processor and memory storing software code. The protocol also tracks the user through a computer or portable device to perform actions with the geometry map of a real-world Disney site.
The control or handheld device is able to “simulate a virtual-world by conforming the identified one or more virtual effects to the geometry of the real-world venue from a present vantage point of the tracked moving perspective.”
Essentially, the tech is a clone of one of Disney’s 12 theme parks located all over the world. The company may be determined to provide a virtual experience to make up for lost revenue resulting from closures of physical theme parks to visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to statistics from February 2021, Disney lost $2.6 billion from the loss of sales during the pandemic and the firm just recently started turning a profit again in August 2021. However, Disney may be keeping the virtual-world simulator concept on the back burner, as the company told the Los Angeles Times it has “no current plans” to launch the virtual world.
