Company Disney introduced a new robot Olaf with artificial intelligence – the famous snowman from the cartoon “Frozen”, turned into a realistic character. The robot has already debuted at Disneyland Paris and will soon participate in special events in Hong Kong.

Olaf enters the real world

This week at Disneyland Paris, viewers saw a new generation of robotic Olaf. Walt Disney Imagineering President and Chief Creative Officer Bruce Vaughn, along with park President Natasha Rafalski, emphasized that this event combines advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and animation to create a living character that replicates the movements and emotions of the familiar cartoon snowman.

“Like everything at Disney, we always start with a story. We think about how we want to make the guest feel,” said WDI Senior Vice President of Research and Development Kyle Laughlin.

It is this philosophy that determines Olaf’s every move, from his gaze to his gestures and spoken facial expressions.

Revitalization technologies

The implementation of the project required a complex combination of robotics and artificial intelligence. A special feature of the new Olaf is the ability to reproduce the movements specified by the animators using reinforcement learning. The robot analyzes digital models, imitating them in the physical world, adjusting gait, gestures and facial expressions to perfectly match the cartoon.

“A key element of our platform is deep reinforcement learning, which allows robotic characters to learn to imitate movements through simulation,” Laughlin explained.

To speed up work, they use the Newton modeling environment, developed jointly with NVIDIA and Google DeepMind. The Kamino simulator helps the robot learn complex movements, including walking, gesturing and interacting with people, much faster than traditional programming methods.

Attention to detail

Olaf’s appearance is carefully thought out. His snow suit is deformable, allowing the character to move naturally, and the iridescent fibers in his eyes mimic the shimmer of real snow. The carrot nose is removable, the mouth is fully movable, the eyes are expressive, and the voice reacts to dialogue with guests. All elements are aimed at ensuring that the viewer does not notice the mechanisms and sees a living character.

The technology allows Olaf to move and react even in close quarters, striking a balance between realistic physics and animated expressiveness. This is especially important for interacting with guests who are expecting a “live” cartoon character.

Laughlin noted:

“The most interesting thing is that we are just getting started. “Disney previously used BDX droids, simple moving robots for park shows, but now the technology has evolved to self-balancing and AI-controlled characters like Olaf, who can move and express emotions in a life-like manner.”

Guest experience

In the near future, Olaf will be part of the Arendelle Bay show at the World of Frozen park in Paris, and will also appear temporarily in Hong Kong. Disney strives to ensure that technology does not distract from emotions, but only enhances the impression of meeting the character.

The technological basis for the creation of Olaf is described in detail in the magazine Nature Machine Intelligence. According to the development team, the combination of artificial intelligence and engineering design allows for the creation of robots that feel alive and emotionally expressive, keeping the magic of cartoons alive in real life.

Additionally, the Disney team studies guest behavior to tailor Olaf’s reactions to different age groups and cultural backgrounds.For example, the robot can subtly change its facial expression and movement speed when interacting with children or adults, making interactions natural and engaging.