Disney's clumsy new bunny bot finds ways to create instant human connections

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By Matthew Griffin Robo Revolution 16th March 2023

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

By being imperfect and “human-like” robots are finding new ways to connect with humans.

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A robot that will “bring out a characters’ personality” was unveiled at during Disney Parks’ appearance at South by Southwest (SXSW).

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During the presentation called “The Art & Science Behind Disney’s Timeless Storytelling,” the robotic bunny climbed out of a box and onto the stage doing a neat forward roll in the process.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Walt Disney Imagineers Tony Dohi, Tony Dibani and Morgan Pope spoke about the technology that the company has been developing that can have “an emotional connection” with park guests.

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On stage, the robot bunny showed off different skills such as rollerblading, somersaulting as well as falling down and getting back up which are said to be a “new way to bring out a characters’ personality.”

“Robotics is all about precision, repeatability … and inhuman perfection,” Pope said, “we are using high-performance materials, and taking advantage of mechanical scaling effects – so she’s dynamic and tough. But we’re also using motion capture data because we want to make performances that have emotion embedded in them.”

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Dohi and Pope who are behind the Spider-Man robot that performs backflips in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure noted the purpose of utilising this creation.

“Can we make an audience actually feel anxious for our little robot here if we ask her to premiere her big stunt in front of this huge… crowd?” Diho explained.

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On Linkedin, Martin Harbech who is Group Director at Meta shared a clip of the robotic bunny in action.

“If you don’t believe humans will one day have robot companions, this 90-sec clip is really worth watching,” he wrote in a post. “Pay special attention to the instant emotional reaction from the audience … after just a minute with her.'”

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At the moment the robot is nameless but it has had comparisons it to rabbit Judy Hopps, from Disney’s Oscar-winning 2016 animated movie, Zootopia.

Disney did not confirm whether park guests will see this robot at their parks in the future but they did also show off other creations they’ve been working on.

One of those being another “blue-sky” meet-and-greet concept where fans have a live conversation with pixie-sized Tinker Bell and during the demonstration answered questions while she appeared in a lantern.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.