Walt Disney Imagineering has been testing its new Baby Groot robot, which is part of Project Kiwi, at Disney California Adventure.
The free-roaming Groot animatronic was first teased by Imagineering in 2021. It is part of the Project Kiwi robotics platform, which is still in development.
As shown in the Instagram video below, the tiny robot can move and act on its own, and will be able to interact with theme park guests.
“This prototype robot of Groot is one of many ways Walt Disney Imagineers are developing new, innovative ways to bring stories to life in Disney parks,” Disney wrote alongside the video.
Scott LaValley, an Imagineer working on the project, told TechCrunch in 2021: “Project Kiwi started about three years ago to figure out how we can bring our smaller characters to life at their actual scale in authentic ways.”
LaValley added: “It’s an exciting time for bipedal robotics and with an incredible team and our combination of technology, artistry and magic, we are bringing characters to life that could not have happened anywhere but Disney.”
The opposite of Project Kiwi is Imagineering’s Project Exo, which was also unveiled in 2021. This involves a full-body exoskeleton system to bring Disney’s biggest characters to life.
Groot to interact with theme park guests
“One of the things that is so exciting about a project like this is that characters are a big way that we bring our lands to life, and having these gigantic characters that guests are going to be able to see from a far way away,” Leslie Evans, a senior R&D Imagineer, told CNBC.
blooloop recently spoke to Disney Imagineer Scott Trowbridge, who said: “We’re constantly kind of ‘R&Ding’, not just the stuff that we do, not just the stuff the guests see, but also our own process.”
In more news, Disney is working with Apple to bring its Disney+ streaming service to the tech giant’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.
Lead image credit: Walt Disney Imagineering / Instagram
