I tried these turbocharged sunglasses at Disney and got an amazing new view

Standing on a box inside Walt Disney Studios Stage 1 is a rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy. He speaks to a crowd of people wearing the same plain-looking sunglasses as me, and he is larger than life, speaking with full body movements and natural gestures.

Then I take off glassesand I could see that Rocket was on the screen, not an animated character standing on the actual box. When Rocket stops moving, he comes out from behind the curtain – Wizard of Oz style – and brings out an actor who was doing all the stunts and voice work for Rocket.

I can wear these glasses all day long and never know there’s anything out of the ordinary about them. They’re regular sunglasses when you’re outside, before they turn into sunglasses XR glasses When you look at a private screen.

The technology of LED displays and glasses comes from Liminal spacea startup selected as part of Disney 2025 Accelerator Program. Start presenting AR Concert Experiences Liminal Space creates display systems using microLED chip technology. This results in 3D holographic displays that are used for everything Stadiums and arenas To smaller spaces such as Attractions and exhibitions.

During a Demo Day event at Walt Disney Studios In Burbank in November, Nathan Hooper, co-founder and CEO of Liminal Space, explains on screen that he wants to improve how… Virtual reality It’s a “solitary and isolated experience” because you’re wearing a bulky headset alone, and all you can see is the screen. You cannot share it with people around you.

“We can give you the same level of immersion and awe (as VR), but now you can see your friends and family… and do it all for one to 10,000 people at the same time,” Hooper says in the demo day video, describing a world where things are “augmented by digital enhancements all around you.”

Liminal Space sunglasses are a little closer to Augmented reality compared to virtual realityas well as a huge step up from the old 3D glasses currently used in theme parks.

While virtual reality – eg See Apple Pro and Meta Quest 3 — Requires a headset and transports you to a completely virtual world, AR overlays the real world With graphics. Smart glassesHe loves Meta Ray Ban (any Disneyland has already experimented), use augmented reality to overlay information in the real world, as well as provide camera recording functions and phone Contact.

As the theme parks compete with each other to provide their guests with entertainment The most immersive atmosphere Disney’s support of Liminal Space could show that it is interested in adding more realistic displays to its parks.

How realistic are these XR images?

After Rocket drives away, the Liminal Space demo screen takes us through a world Avatar-Landscape view from The consequences are coming (Photos are not allowed). We soar through dense green vegetation, pulsating trees, floating cliffs, neon flowers and flying creepers.

“The quality of the images — they’re bright, they’re clear, I’m seeing details in these shots that I’ve never seen before,” Leslie Evans, executive imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, says in the video. “People have rendered these scenes very carefully, and if that happens, I want you to see every detail. I want the contrast to be at the highest level, I want it to feel like it’s real.”

It feels as real as 3D and VR: everyone gasps as we crest in the avatar world and lean forward, “falling” into the rainforest below. Despite these dizzying heights, they’re somewhat less nauseating than donning a full VR headset and staring into another reality. Maybe it’s because you can still see the real world around you, or because you’re not wearing a heavy head covering.

Comparisons with virtual reality and augmented reality aside, these glasses offer a more advanced version of on-screen displays. Traffic trip avatar ride in Disney’s Animal Kingdom In Florida, especially with the new avatars I’ve been testing. Liminal Space Sunglasses are the next step up from those weird plastic kits you’re handed at the start of rides and shows like PhilharMagic and Game Story Mania — the ones where you’re told not to wear them until the show starts, and that only really works if you’re looking directly at the screen and positioning them correctly — with the idea that you can comfortably walk around in them all day and have them work everywhere.

This appears to be what Disney intends to do with the technology (Disney told me it’s still exploring the possibilities and doesn’t have anything to share just yet). The glasses do double duty, whether as sunglasses or when they come in contact with a screen in an attraction or while cruising across the land.

Standard screens throughout the parks?

Liminal Space Glasses also work from multiple viewing angles while looking at screens, helping to create a feeling of total immersion.

Michael Kuperwas, Creative Development and Digital Design Supervisor at Artificial light and magic — the famous visual effects studio founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas in the 1970s — has talked about using modular screens from Liminal Space for theme park experiences.

“All of these different displays create great, low-friction ways to expand the world you’re already in,” Koperwas says during the Disney Demo Day video presentation. “Having a modular display like this is essential to creating these locations that look seamless, feel magical, feel amazing, and are full of surprises.”

Liminal Space says the company’s glasses are cheap to make, meaning theme parks can easily provide thousands of pairs to guests, who can even leave with them at the end of the day and bring them back for their next visit.

This wouldn’t be Disney’s first park wearable: In 2013, Disney offered a MagicBand for guests to purchase and wear at Walt Disney World, allowing them to swipe the band to enter the parks and their hotel rooms, and to pay for merchandise and food. the Magic Band Plus He added more jobs and is coming to Disneyland in 2022.

In the Liminal Space demo, I switched from black-rimmed sunglasses to white ones and walked into the next room. It has a huge circular screen that displays Impressionist artworks, fading from one to the next. The giant Vincent Van Gogh stares at me, inviting me inside his house Self-portrait with straw hat. The image turns into Sunflowers by Van GoghAnd the soft saffron petals turn towards me.

The picture changes again, and this time I’m not just looking at a centuries-old painting, I’m standing on a European street while snow falls around me. Like a child watching a 3D movie for the first time, I couldn’t help but try to touch the drifting snowflakes. Through my Liminal Space sunglasses, it moves all around me.

Unlike those traditional 3D glasses you wear to watch a show at Disneyland, where the image doesn’t look any closer if you move closer to the screen, Liminal Space’s demo feels like you’re stepping into the video itself. As I walked slowly past the falling snow, it began to fall around me, moving into my peripheral vision as well as in front of me.

Walt Disney Imagineering wants to give park guests such immersive experiences where they don’t just feel like looking at something televisionsays Judy Gerstner, executive director of display systems at Walt Disney Imagineering.

“Because the circular (screen) works so well with such a bright image, and because the filter gives you an unrestricted view when you move your eyes back and forth, it could be a big win in quality for our guest,” Gerstner says in the demo day video.

Speaking to a packed theater, Bonnie Rosen, general manager of Disney Accelerator, said the primary goal, whether it’s artificial intelligence, 3D printing or virtual reality, is to create imagination that comes to life.

“Innovation happens every day at Disney,” she says. “This company lives and breathes creativity. We don’t talk about it until it seems inevitable, and then someone calls it ‘Disney magic.'”