MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Disney Enterprises Inc. published three patent applications requesting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for aerial display systems with floating pixels, floating projection screens and marionettes held aloft and animated by the machines, Reuters reported.
“This is a significant improvement over prior flying characters, which typically were provided in the form of parade or other blimps/balloons filled with hot air or other gases and that had little and/or awkward articulation of any movable parts,” the company said in its patent application, according to the agency.
The Walt Disney Company is changing its entertainment scheme by requesting the use of pre-programmed drones controlled from the ground. Disney’s patent applications are part of a surge in companies pressing for the US government to allow the commercial use of drones.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration is currently drafting rules concerning the commercial use of drones.
The three published patent applications are officially titled, “Aerial Display System with Floating Pixels,” “Aerial Display System with Floating Projection Screens,” and “Aerial Display System with Marionettes Articulated and Supported by Airborne Devices,” applied for by Clifford Wong, James Alexander Stark and Robert Scott Trowbridge, all members of Walt Disney Imagineering, according to Reuters.
Disney is developing an alternative to its fireworks and projected water screens called “flixels” or “floating pixels,” according to Disney blog StitchKingdom.com. The blog explains that UAVs will carry projection screens or light diffusers to deliver an interactive image in a three-dimensional space. The flexible projection screens would be safer and more controlled than pyrotechnics currently used by Disney.
The third patent application is for the use of drones to move and animate giant blimp-sized puppets.
The Walt Disney Company did not comment on the news when requested to comment Monday, according to Reuters.
