USC's recent SCALE event featured augmented reality, holograms, and robots. The event was filled with tech enthusiasts. But one of the highlights of the evening was the interview with Disney CEO Robert Iger.
The USC event in Santa Monica was called SCALE: The Future of Tech and Entertainment, USC News reported. The Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies as the USC Marshall School of Business partnered up with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to make the event happen. The event gathered leaders from companies in Southern California focused on products in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality.
One of the biggest personalities during the event is Disney CEO Robert Iger, Augmented Reality news. Iger has been vocal about rejecting the idea of Virtual Reality in their theme parks, but he is very interested in Augmented Reality. During the USC event, Iger talked about the possibility of including AR in Disney Theme Park rides, but would be a blend of digital and physical, and not creating an entire virtual world.
One of the best examples is the Disney theme park in Shanghai, where rides simply augment the user-experience, rather than replacing it entirely. Iger said AR, and not VR, is more inclined to the experience that Disney wants to offer its patrons. Iger pointed out how technology plays a big role in the evolution of the Disney brand keeping customers focused in a diverse market.
Even though most of Disney's businesses are traditional, they still have to adapt to the new technology to keep up with the marketplace, Iger said. Technology has helped Disney develop its storytelling and is a big element that leverages the distribution of their products. One of the best examples of the advancements of technology that Disney has utilized is the release of the recent live action adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast."
