The Walt Disney Co. will bring next-generation robots to its theme parks, powered by Nvidia tech, the tech giant announced at its developer conference Tuesday.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that his company would be partnering with Disney and Google DeepMind on the initiative, joined on stage by one of Disney’s BDX droids, which roam the Galaxy’s Edge section of Disneyland and will make trips at Disney’s other theme parks this year.
Huang also announced a humanoid robot foundational model with a name inspired by Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: “GR00T N1.”
“The age of generalist robotics is here,” said Huang. “With NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1 and new data-generation and robot-learning frameworks, robotics developers everywhere will open the next frontier in the age of AI.”
As for the Disney and Google DeepMind partnership, the three companies will focus on an open-source physics engine called Newton, with the goal of enabling robots to handle complex tasks with more precision.
The entertainment giant will “use Newton to advance its robotic character platform that powers next-generation entertainment robots,” Nvidia says.
“The BDX droids are just the beginning. We’re committed to bringing more characters to life in ways the world hasn’t seen before, and this collaboration with Disney Research, NVIDIA and Google DeepMind is a key part of that vision,” said Kyle Laughlin, senior VP at Walt Disney Imagineering research & development. “This collaboration will allow us to create a new generation of robotic characters that are more expressive and engaging than ever before — and connect with our guests in ways that only Disney can.”
Disney has long used animatronics and robots at its theme parks, but has leaned into the tech even more in recent years. In addition to the BDX droids, Disney rolled out a “Stuntronic” Spider-Man robot that simulates the superhero flying the air, and will release an animatronic version of Walt Disney himself at Disneyland this year.
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