In an article posted by Road to VR, Once a Pioneer of VR in Theme Parks, Disney Aims for AR This Time Around, Disney’s CEO, Rob Iger gives a message to the amusement industry about Diney employing VR in its attractions, “Don’t even think about it”. I personally believe this is a current reflection of the state of VR and not necessarily a reflection of Disney’s opinion about the technology.
Indeed, for a company with standards as high as Disney and with the number of people pushing through the experiences, VR just would not make sense. Currently, mobile VR experiences can only support lower quality compared to PC based technology. These high end HMDs and computers are expensive. For an attraction that pushes 100 patron’s through at a time means the attraction would need to shell out close to $4k per head or $400k just to get the attraction started. That may not seem like much but there is going to be maintenance and equipment failure which could make the initial cost skyrocket. Then there is the issue of through put. Disney just can not be expected to support that many people through its experience with what is a “Clunky” technology. The sanitary issues alone make the head spin. Disney will also have to worry about elderly and handicapped who just could not deal with a computer and a heavy HMD. Taking these immediate factors into consideration, I can certainly understand why Iger is not accepting VR technology, at this moment in time.
Although Disney Quest was slated to close in 2015, it is still operational. Why? Simply because it is making money. It is old and antiquated but still generating positive cash flow. Disney Research has not been told to turn it off either. They just released a very good white-paper on dynamic object interactions and proprioception. I have a hunch while not diving into the VR craze head first, Disney is still reaseraching and exploring ways to exploit the technology once it reaches a state of being practical, and “High Quality”.
