A patent filed by Disney demonstrates for projectors could be used to create interactive experiences for hotel guests. The filing, reported on by Orlando Business Journal, suggests that the technology could be used in a hotel room or even at home using various light sources.
They explain:
For instance, right now if one plays a car racing game on a computer, they not only drive the cars, they also hear them, hear other cars, hear the crowd, see fiery crashes, hear the explosions, and the game play is back-grounded by emotional music and the like. If they play with a slot car, they only get to drive a car. There are few sounds, certainly no background music to amp up the emotions. When they play on a screen, the world is completely surrounding and immersive, they only have to move by brain through the frame of the screen bezel and they are into another world. If they play in their room, none of this is true. The goal of the projector with its camera and audio attachments of the display systems described herein is to allow a room, where ever the room is located, to become as immersive as any screen environment or even more so.
To this end, the display system is a device that can be both an input and an output device. On the output side, the display system is a projector of still or animated visual imagery, and the display system may include a speaker or otherwise be capable of sending audio signals to speakers elsewhere in the room. In this way, the display system may provide an audio track to projected imagery to enhance the display and/or gaming experience.
The documents also say the images could be controlled via devices such as tablets or built-in touch surfaces. RFID — the technology used in MagicBands — is also mentioned, which would be a logical extension.
As always, there is no word on if or when Disney might actually implement this technology into their guest experiences.