Disney Research, Boston

Disney Research, Boston is the newest member of the Disney Research family of labs. We opened our doors on June 1, 2011 with a small, yet world class team of Researchers, Consultants and eight eager summer interns.

Located just two blocks from MIT, a five minute drive to Harvard University, and with easy access to the six other major research universities which call Boston “home,” we are strategically placed at the epicenter of a burgeoning research and entrepreneurial hub. Our primary research interests include: Materials Science, Social Psychology, Data Mining, Operations Research, Behavioral Economics, and Transportation.

Some initial projects include, but are not limited to:

Rapid Prototyping in the Large: 3D printing is an exciting new technology. However, printing large objects for our stage shows and theme park attractions is an enormous challenge. Can we decompose large virtual objects into smaller parts that can be 3D-printed and then robustly assembled into an aesthetically pleasing whole?

Influencing Guest Behavior in Theme Parks: Some areas of our theme parks and large scale events can be sparsely populated while other areas are overly crowded. How can we visualize and mitigate crowding in these environments through incentives and information on mobile devices?

Generalizing Recommender Systems: Excellent recommender systems for movie rentals, book purchases, and a variety of other opportunities are currently in use. How do we generalize recommender systems to take into account the physical world, heterogeneous products and services, and the temporal evolution of our guests’ likes and dislikes, in order to provide a more personalized consumer experience/service?

Making Sense of the Blogosphere: The Walt Disney Company is regularly mentioned in more than 200 major blogs. How can we categorize, summarize and visualize these unstructured text documents in order to better understand our fan base?

Media Distribution in the Developing World: Forty percent of humanity has no access to a cinema experience. How can we bring the unique magic of a Disney cinema experience to the developing world in a way that makes economic sense?

Designing Multimodal Vehicles: A visit to our theme parks involves traveling in a wide variety of vehicles; from rental cars to trains to attraction rides. Can we design a multimodal vehicle that can travel on road, rail, and in the air?