Disney's next movie might be watching you.

So, just where could LiDAR be used?

In more places than you might imagine.

fastcodesign

The system has been trained to watch an audience of theatergoers as they watch a film. It can track reactions like smiling and laughter on hundreds of faces in a dark theater, allowing Disney to quantify whether or not a film is working as intended on a granular scale. It’s easy to imagine such technology eventually reaching well beyond the movie theater, into the real world, where Disney parks could react to your mood with real-time Disney magic.

******

Microsoft Research has used computer vision systems to measure facial and body language for a long time now. In one instance, its researchers actually programmed an elevator to know whether it should open or close for a person walking past. How? The system measured each person’s facial expression and body language. Disney Research claims its system can scale beyond people in a movie theater, and can even capture the intricacies of real-world movements, like trees blowing in the wind, with applications in animation. At the very least, one can imagine Disney bringing this technology into its parks, like the upcoming Star Wars world–customizing the space and the characters you interacted with to your liking. It’s easy to imagine sentiment-analysis cameras making their way into other consumer experiences, too, like vending machines or fast food restaurants.

AI might help the whole world find its bliss point, keeping us perpetually craving the next bite of life.