Granted Patent B2

US 12,552,044 · App. 18/471,935 · Granted Feb 17, 2026

Inventors: Anthony Alexander Mecca (Winter Garden, FL); Timothy J. Eck (Windermere, FL)

Assignee: UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLC

B25J11/0015B25J9/1615B25J9/1697B25J13/089G06T7/73

Abstract

Claims (58)

1 . A reactive media system of an amusement attraction, the reactive media system comprising:

a motion control system, comprising:

an animated figure having a figure portion; and

a set of trackers coupled to a first surface of the figure portion, wherein each tracker of the set of trackers is configured to emit a respective sensor signal; and

a media control system, comprising:

a tracking camera configured to:

receive the respective sensor signals from the set of trackers;

determine a current position of the set of trackers relative to one another, relative to the tracking camera, or both based on receipt of the respective sensor signals; and

generate state signals indicative of a current position and a current orientation of the figure portion based on the current position of the set of trackers;

a media controller communicatively coupled to the tracking camera and configured to generate first image data indicative of images to be projected onto at least a second surface of the figure portion having the current position and the current orientation, wherein the second surface comprises an external surface and wherein the second surface is different than the first surface; and

a projector communicatively coupled to the media controller, wherein the projector is configured to:

receive the data indicative of the images from the media controller; and

project the images onto the second surface of the figure portion having the current position and the current orientation.

2 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the media control system is configured to project the images onto the second surface of the figure portion without receiving position, velocity, or acceleration information from the set of actuators of the animated figure.

3 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the tracking camera is configured to:

determine a subsequent position of the set of trackers relative to one another, relative to the tracking camera, or both based on receipt of the respective sensor signals; and

generate state signals indicative of a subsequent position and a subsequent orientation of the figure portion based on the subsequent position of the set of trackers.

4 . The reactive media system of claim 3 , wherein the media controller is configured to:

generate second image data indicative of a plurality of candidate images based on the current position and the current orientation of the figure portion; and

determine a subsequent image from the second image data based on the subsequent position and the subsequent orientation of the figure portion.

5 . The reactive media system of claim 4 , wherein the projector is configured to project the subsequent image onto the second surface of the figure portion having the subsequent position and the subsequent orientation.

6 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the set of trackers comprise a set of active devices, a set of passive devices, or a combination thereof.

7 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein each tracker of the set of trackers is concealed from view to a guest and disposed within a surface of the figure portion of the animated figure, and each tracker is configured to emit the respective sensor signal through the surface for receipt by the tracking camera.

8 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the media control system comprises a plurality of tracking cameras that comprises the tracking camera, and wherein the plurality of tracking cameras is coupled to a camera network device that is coupled to the media controller.

9 . The reactive media system of claim 8 , wherein each tracking camera of the plurality of tracking cameras comprises a field of view, wherein the field of view of each tracking camera overlaps the set of trackers at a different orientation.

10 . The reactive media system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of tracking cameras is configured to determine the current position of the set of trackers via a registration algorithm.

11 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the motion control system comprises a set of actuators configured to adjust the figure portion in response to interactive data received from one or more interactive data sources.

12 . The reactive media system of claim 11 , wherein the motion control system is configured to stop movement of the figure portion in response to an elapsed amount of time, a number of interactive responses, a detection of a ride vehicle, one or more guests leaving a location, or a combination thereof.

13 . The reactive media system of claim 1 , wherein the figure portion of the animated figure comprises a face portion having a moveable jaw with at least one degree of freedom onto which the projector is configured to project at least a portion of the images, wherein a portion of the set of actuators is configured to actuate the moveable jaw, and wherein the motion control system is configured to instruct the portion of the set of actuators to actuate the moveable jaw in response to interactive data.

14 . A reactive media system of an amusement attraction, the reactive media system comprising:

one or more interactive data sources configured to generate interactive data that is variable over time;

a motion control system comprising:

an animated figure disposed within the amusement attraction, wherein the animated figure comprises a figure portion that comprises a moveable joint;

a set of actuators disposed within the figure portion and configured to actuate the moveable joint; and

a set of trackers coupled to the figure portion of the animated figure; and

a media control system comprising:

a tracking camera configured to:

determine a respective position of each tracker of the set of trackers based on a visualization of the set of trackers; and

generate a signal indicative of a current position and of a current orientation of the animated figure based on the respective position of each tracker of the set of trackers; and

a media controller communicatively coupled to the tracking camera and configured to:

receive the signal indicative of the current position and of the current orientation of the animated figure from the tracking camera;

generate content to be projected onto a portion of the animated figure based on the current position and the current orientation of the animated figure;

identify a non-operational portion of the animated figure based on the determined respective position of each tracker of the set of trackers; and

adjust the generated content based on the identified non-operational portion.

15 . The reactive media system of claim 14 , wherein the media controller is configured to:

generate a skeletal model of the figure portion based on the current position and the current orientation of the animated figure; and

generate content to be projected onto a portion of the animated figure based on the skeletal model.

16 . The reactive media system of claim 14 , wherein the motion control system comprises a projector configured to move, based on instructions from the media controller, to align with the current position and the current orientation of the animated figure.

17 . The reactive media system of claim 14 , wherein the set of trackers comprises a first tracker disposed on the moveable joint of the figure portion and comprises a second tracker disposed on a different portion of the animated figure that is distinct from the moveable joint, wherein the tracking camera is configured to determine a first position of the first tracker, a second position of the second tracker, a current distance between the first tracker and the second tracker based on the first position relative to the second position, and generate the signal indicative of the current position and of the current orientation of the animated figure based on the current distance.

18 . The reactive media system of claim 14 , wherein the figure controller is configured to switch from a detailed control instruction set to a simplified control instruction set based on the interactive data, wherein the detailed control instruction set comprises a greater number of movements of the animated figure relative to the simplified control instruction set.

19 . A method of operating a reactive media system of an amusement attraction, the method comprising:

receiving, via a figure controller of an animated figure, interactive data from one or more interactive data sources of the amusement attraction;

generating, via the figure controller, an interactive response of the animated figure based on the interactive data;

instructing, via the figure controller, one or more actuators disposed within the animated figure to perform the interactive response by actuating a movable joint of the animated figure via actuation of the one or more actuators;

receiving, via a media controller, sensor feedback indicative of a current position and a current orientation of a figure portion of the animated figure from a tracking camera coupled to the media controller, wherein the tracking camera is configured to sense the current position and the current orientation based on at least one tracker coupled to a first surface of the animated figure;

generating, via the media controller, data indicative of images to be projected onto at least a second surface of the figure portion having the current position and the current orientation, wherein the second surface comprises an external surface and wherein the second surface is different than the first surface; and

instructing, via the media controller, a projector to project the images onto the second surface of the figure portion having the current position and the current orientation.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the one or more interactive data sources comprise a dedicated game engine of the animated figure, a health status monitoring system of the amusement attraction, a main control system of the amusement attraction, a computing device associated with a technician of the amusement attraction, or a guest sensor disposed within the amusement attraction.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (40)