In a true "life imitates art" moment, The Walt Disney Co. has announced that it is developing hyper-realistic robot versions of Disney characters to roam freely around the grounds of its theme parks.
The original report from the New York Times describes an existing 3-foot-tall Groot robot that can respond to a person's actions and demeanor.
While Disney sees the new robots as a way to stay relevant to younger generations, some people are a bit hesitant at the possibility of free-roaming, sentient robots hanging around at the parks.
Many pointed out the similarities to the popular sci-fi tv series Westworld in which high-paying guests enter to live out their fantasies among the androids that "live" inside the Wild-West-themed amusement park.
According to the NY Times, Disney says it has no plans of replacing human performers with humanoid robots.
Instead, the new robotic developments are more about bringing to life "extreme Marvel and “Star Wars” characters — huge ones like the Incredible Hulk, tiny ones like Baby Yoda and swinging ones like Spider-Man."
“We want to create incredible experiences outside of a show box,” Leslie Evans, a senior Imagineering executive, told the NY Times. “To me, that’s going to be next level. These aren’t just parks. They are inhabited places.”