Slashdot Mirror
My Pal Mickey -- Interactive Theme Park Doll
Dan Howland writes "Big Ruxpin is Watching You: Once again, The Firesign Theatre's I Think We're All Bozos on this Bus proves itself to be the science-fiction story where the most stuff came true. If you recall, a hacker named Clem traveled through the Future Fair, followed by computer generated Holy-Grams who popped up and said things like, 'Why not try [WALL OF SCIENCE], 'cause it's my favorite!' Leave it to Disney to perfect that spooky technology with My Pal Mickey, an interactive talking plush doll that knows where it is inside Walt Disney World, and tells you trivia as you move through the park. Ah ha, but even better (at least from Disney's standpoint) is that, just like the Holy-Grams, My Pal Mickey feeds the info back into the central computer system, so Doctor Memory can track people's movements through the park in realtime. (Of course, these data will be skewed because they only track people who buy the dolls...) Here is another link, with the interesting, Asimov-like sentence: 'He has a strong sense of self-preservation, and reminds you to put him some place safe when you get near water play areas, or on wet rides.'"
Dear Sir,
We've recently come across the use of our trademark, "Mickey Mouse," on the website site http://www.slashdot.org/. As you may be aware, the rights to Mickey Mouse belong to the Disney corporation, and without proper licensing may not be used by others. As such, please edit your Slashdot story summary to remove any mentions of "Mickey," "Mouse," and/or "Disney." We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Michael Lutz
Attorney-At-Law
Dewey, Cheetam and Howe
Why do I get the feeling that Disney's been watching re-runs of "The Simpsons" and have decided that the best episode involves "Itchy And Scratchy Land"???
Color me scared,
Zip
"The answers are always inside the problem, not outside"- Marshall McLuhan
They need to team up with Real Dolls. I'd go to Disney World for that.
I think I'll pass for now, but give me a call when these come equipped with Genuine People Personalities.
In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
"This is the Epcot Center! It has..blah blah blah..."
Walk away, go check something out back where you came from...
"This is the Epcot Center! It has..blah blah blah..."
Go to head up the stairs, across the room...
"This is the Epcot Center! It has..blah blah blah..."
Go to walk out...
"This is the Epcot Center! It has..blah blah blah..."
*Mickey goes for a ride...*
some hax0r figures out how to send his own messages to the dolls?
Little boy: I want to go see Mickey Mouse!
Doll: MICKEY MOUSE IS A FAG!
But just wait until it's not opt-in.
Wait until it is contingent upon entering an establishment (such as a theme park like Disney World) that you must transfix some device to your belt, or carry it at all times.
Then the people have only one recourse... to fight with their wallets and refuse to give business to places where your anonymity is removed. It's only one more step until the gov't forces this system on you.
But maybe people don't care if they're anonymous anymore... maybe they want a talking AI Mickey doll to tell them what to think... I know that I don't want that however.
MMORPG fan-boy? Prove your worth
So this is effectively the physical conterpart to a tracking cookie?
"Defenestration" is to throw out of a window; what's a word for throwing 'Windows' out of something?
No, but he screams in terror as he plummets to the ground...
Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
I know this isn't precisely on topic, but with the coming of nanotechdevices, how long will it be before a park like Disney can stamp the hand of every person entering the park with an ink containing nanotransmitters, so that EVERYONE's movement is tracked?
Frink: You've got to listen to me. Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok in an orgy of blood and kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.
Seriously, don't these give you the willies?
"Defenestration" is to throw out of a window; what's a word for throwing 'Windows' out of something?
Seriously, does it really matter if they're tracking you, and if they end up using that information to change or plan new theme parks? Quite frankly, isn't that exactly what we should want? We're the guests, and anything they do to make the parks better for me is great. Carrying around a MPM seems to be the perfect way to tell Disney what interests me at the park without having to actually TELL them.
Initial Disclaimer: I hate Disney as a company as much as anyone here thanks to their political and legal activities.
Less than a month ago, I spent a week in Disney World with my disabled mother. (Don't knock the situation: I got to stay in the Grand Floridian, eat lobster for every meal, go parasailing, etc. for FREE)
The one thing that really struck me about the park / resort is that they sell an experience. Every last employee (they call themselves "cast members") from the ticket taker to Security to register operators is SINCERELY dedicated to serving you and ensuring that you are having the time of your life.
Since we were staying at the Grand Floridian, we didn't go past the front gate (and back into Orlando) the entire time. It was culture shock once we returned to The Real World, just because of the level of apathy in customer service shown to us at the airport, restaraunts, etc..
I was honestly saddened that it is not possible for me to spend my own money on a future time at Disney World without being morally inconsistent. The Disney World experience that they sell is incredible, and although I did notice these dolls in the stores, I didn't realize the full potential of them. I'm not surprised though, as you can tell how the "personalized" attention it would give a youngster would be near-magical.
On an aside, I'm an outspoken Evangelical Christian, and whenever I talk to people about the trip and my hatred of Disney as a corporation, their reaction is always "Is it because of Disney's embracing of homosexuality?"
My respone is that I could care less about that, and inform them of copyright extension, bought legislation, etc.
My point here is that I've seen passion on these boards that can rival and often surpass those of many Evangelicals I know. Why are we not mobilizing to inform the public at large and/or get things changed? Even if we're scoffed at as idiots (as many on Slashdot would at a Christian boycotting Disney for the above reason) at least the public WOULD BE AWARE of the issue.
I contacted the EFF as soon as I got back to find out about volunteering a consistent 5-10 hours a week, but was told that since I'm in Ohio they don't have the resources to administer remote volunteers.
- Neil Wehneman
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
Pal Mickey is a great idea, and works quite well. I live in Orlando and visit the parks quite regularly with one. As you walk in the parks, he'll chime up with useful info and timely information regarding your visit - like "I hear the wait's pretty short over at the Tower of Terror". He also mentions height limits and factoids about the rides as you pass. When you walk past a beacon that you've already passed within a certain period of time, he'll tell a corny joke that's pertinent to the area your in. (Jokes about pirates in Adventureland, astronauts in Tomorrowland, etc) One of my favorite quotes I heard him say was walking into Fantasyland - "Welcome to Fantasyland, where all your dreams come true. That is, unless, your dream is to be in Frontierland." Outside the parks, Mickey has a few games that you can play, but doesn't say anything about where you've been, which seems like earlier rumored memory features were left out.
Mickey seems to have been originally intended for kids, but a larger percentage seem to have been purchased for adults. He's powered by AA's and a PIC microporcessor, and has a Vishay TSOP1138 IR receiver in his nose. Disney has deployed hundreds of IR transmitters all over the parks at Walt Disney World which activate the toy, many of which serve double service to trigger "Magical Moments Pins" as well as iPaqs that serve as park guides for foreign and disabled guests.
As far as I have been able to tell, all the doll's sayings are already onboard, plus a number of sentence fragments like numbers and showtimes that allow him to assemble sayings. ("You may want to be back here at 8:00 to get a spot for the fireworks") The only way to get the toy to say something not intended is to somehow capture and retransmit the IR data, or to create your own circuit that reponds to the transmitters. A group has been created to figure out the system at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/re_palmickey
Rumor has it that a Spanish language version is set to come out soon, as well as one that may serve as an electronic FastPass or as a digital camera.
Here's a another informative page on My Pal Mickey, discussing a little bit on the tech, and possible future upgrades for the doll (i.e., a built-in digicam, acting as an electronic "FastPass").
A friend of mine who works over in DW told me about this a couple months ago. Seems like it's a steal for $50, if not just for the amount of tech in it. And with the right amount of hackability, I would have a ball with this at home:
Pal Mickey: Hey, Tony! You've just entered the kitchen. How about a beer?
Me: Well, I was kind of thirsty... Thanks, Pal Mickey!
"Each time you smile, it'll only last awhile. Life may be scary, but it's only temporary."
The marketing data is likely distorted by this because after you've spent $50 for Mickey you're probably eating fast food for the rest of the day, rather than splurging in one of the nicer restaurants. (IMHO, half the fun of WDW is eating in the many fascinating restaurants there.)
Having Mickey recite the specials of the day for each restaurant passed would certainly be fun.
What I NEVER want to hear my Mickey tell me: And right here is the very spot Michael Eisner was standing on when he realized the need to throw Disney's resources behind lobbying for what became the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Remember just a few weeks ago when Woz's lasest press release was a Slashdot story? Here's a brief summary (nah I don't work there):
"The wOz Platform(TM) system includes an innovative wireless network, a system reference design, and an online service that serve as the foundation for a range of location, status, control, and communications solutions for consumers and businesses. The heart of the wOz Platform is the wOzNet(TM) network, a unique local wireless network that provides long range and long battery life at a low cost."
Anyways when we tried to figure out how this could be used one of the few obvious places was to track people in themeparks. I couldn't really figure out why Woz didn't put a GPS unit in every tracker, but I guess that they figured out a way to make it cheaper but only having a certain number of unit with GPS (maybe think of those as pseudo satellites) and then other units that are able to find their location based on the GPS units.
My basic question was how to you guarantee a suitable number of GPS equipped units in close proximity, and a theme park not only answers that question, but it helps to explain what exactly you would want to track. Kids are always getting separated from parents in theme parks.
Things are not as they appear, nor are they otherwise.
I wonder... if you take Mickey with you on a roller coaster that he's not tall enough to ride, will he remind you to check himself at the door?
Actually, you're on track. Since he's targeted towards kids, at the "thrill" rides, he'll remind you of height requirements, and usually say something about being nervous about going, or maybe being afraid - in a kid friendly way. Works well to placate kids who aren't tall enough to ride.
The belt clip that attaches the toy to your waist is at the height of many ride restraints, so sometimes it's best to stash the toy in a backpack to prevent losing him. Though it has been reported that the toy reports back to the park database to tell where he's going, no personally identifiable info is taken at purchase, so there's no way to match him to an owner if he's lost.
Bart: Cool...personalized plates! Barclay... Barry... Bert... Bort? Aw, come on. Bort?
...and later on...
some kid: Mommy, mommy! Buy me a license plate.
kid's mom: No. Come along, Bort.
random guy: Are you talking to me?
kid's mom: No, my son is also named Bort.
We need more "Bort" license plates in the gift shop. I repeat, we are sold out of "Bort" license plates.
SecondPageMedia - Wha
Slipped you a Mickey?
ha ha HA! Hi boys and girls!
You are not the customer.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
You are in the middle of Walt Disney World, probably the most monitored and carefully controlled environment on the planet, and you are worried about a doll giving away your last location near a beacon???
I would say if you are the least concerned about Disney tracking you when on-property, you should instead stick to your cabin in the Black Hills.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Some nerd round here tries to port Linux to it?
AT&ROFLMAO
How long until they insert individual-doll transmitter/sensors to determine how close one doll is to another?
Imagine waiting in line for a ride with 30 kids standing right next to eachother, each with their own doll, each of which is saying the same exact thing, only 2 seconds apart. I just might grab one and strangle it.
If they could communicate, they could tell eachother to shut the hell up. That would be pretty entertaining. Of course I only see this going in the direction of the dolls having annoying, long, drawn-out conversations about each 'interesting' aspect of the park.
ZEN is a prime number in base-36
Mickey.
Mouse.
Mickey Mouse.
Disney.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is a racket.
So sue me.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Issac Asimov's three laws for robots.
A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Hi. I'm Marvin. I'm the world's most intelligent doorstop. If you run with me through the spray of that fountain, the percent chance that you'll short out my circuits is 84.217996310477714010040222, to an approximation, anyhow.
Considering by the length of time you took to roll your eyes, you might just prefer to drop meinto the pond. Science will be none the wiser.
Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
Just think. Someone manages to reverse engineer the network being used and publishes specs that enable anyone with the desire to plug in to this network with their favorite PDA. Then someone maps out the locations of various signals one will encounter. The next step would be customized content.
Maybe it'll be a hidden Mickey guide. Or maybe a guide of more morbid fare.
What would Disney do?
I have an idea. How about we have a "slashdot day" as Diseny World. Several hundred of us all go on the same day and all get these tracking dolls. Every time you pass a fellow slashdot'r you switch dolls.
:)
I'd love to see the look on their faces when all THAT crap data gets fed into their database! Even more fun than swapping supermarket discount cards!
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
"You have violated Robots Rules of Order, and will be asked to leave the future immediately."
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.