Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development has built a free walking Groot robot as part of a multiyear Project Kiwi.
Tech Crunch has a great article detailing the work that has gone into producing what can only be described as a very next generation audio-animatronic figure. This is a real, walk around character that looks incredibly realistic.
The article interviews Project Kiwi, R&D Imagineer Principal Scott LaValley as well as Advanced Development Studio Executive SVP Jon Snoddy. The project isn't ready for the parks yet, but it offers a glimpse of what is to come and how Disney are aiming to shape the future of character experiences.
Disney World's Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is coming in the next couple of years - are we going to see something like Project Kiwi in the future at EPCOT?
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