Hasta La Gadget!

There are already devices that transmit sound to your body without speakers. But what if your body was the speaker? Disney Research has just explored that possibility through its Ishin-Den-Shin project. The experiment amplifies mic input and sends it back as a high voltage, low current signal that turns objects (including humans) into electrostatic audio sources that can’t be heard over the air. Touch someone’s ear while holding the mic, for example, and you’ll deliver a private broadcast. Disney hasn’t said if will build Ishin-Den-Shin into any products, but the technology is simpler than what we’ve seen in electrostatic speakers or headphones; don’t be surprised if it pops up elsewhere.

Filed under: Science

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Disney Research

As I said before, I’m a big fan of Star Wars – particularly the original three films. I’ve seen the prequels several times too, but they’re not nearly as good as the originals in my opinion. Still, I’m rather excited and anxious at the same time that Disney purchased the Star Wars franchise and will be producing new movies.

I’m excited because I can’t wait to see the new films but I’m also anxious that Disney could really screw them up. The good news is that the first new film will hit theaters in 2015. The company also promises a new movie set in the Star Wars universe each year from 2015 on.

Disney plans to release a new film trilogy as a follow-up to the original trilogy picking up after the events of Return of the Jedi, with the first film to be directed by J.J. Abrams. There are also plans for a string of original films looking at some of the major characters’ back stories. I’m really looking forward to these – I sure hope the movies turn out good. Though nothing could possibly be as bad as Midichlorians and Jar-Jar Binks.

[via ContactMusic]

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and his cohorts have been working on the next film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The fifth film in the franchise will reportedly be called Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The film was expected to hit theaters in the summer of 2015, but that release date has now been pushed back.

Bruckheimer recently said that they were supposed to start filming in March, but the script has now been sent back for rework. The studio reportedly said that the existing script was hard to follow and would cost too much to make. Bruckheimer says that the outline for the film was well received and the script has been returned to screenwriter Jeff Nathanson for a rework. He’s hopeful they can still be in a position to release the movie in the Summer of 2016.

Considering the film is being made by the producer behind the $250 million summer bomb The Lone Ranger, I’m sure Disney wants assurances that the next Pirates movie doesn’t suck.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

When you think of guerrilla filmmaking, gritty locations like dangerous back alleys or wartorn countries come to mind. But the black and white fantasy-horror film Escape From Tomorrow was shot on location in what is arguably one of the most controlled, most filmmaker un-friendly locations on the planet: Walt Disney World.

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We all know the drill by now, and if you forget there’s usually a warning: please turn your mobile devices off / silent, the movie is starting. For a special Second Screen Live showing of Disney’s The Little Mermaid however, it’s going to be different as moviegoers are encouraged to use their tablets for an augmented experience. Disney has created an iPad app for viewers to download before they get to the theater, which mirrors apps we’ve seen for home viewing with synchronized games, sing-a-longs and trivia. That’s no coincidence, since the movie’s return to theaters is timed ahead of its Blu-ray release on October 1st.

Viewers shouldn’t worry about this encroaching on their Oscar-season previews however, as it’s limited to a monthlong run at the El Capitan in LA starting on the 15th, and limited showings at select other theaters (listed after the break) nationwide starting on the 20th. This is Disney’s first public use of the tech after a trial run last fall alongside Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which had a response it described as “positive.” For a family movie likely loaded with kids we can see where this might be more enhancement than distraction and maybe even for certain niche midnight screening-type environments — but if anyone whips out a slate at Machete Kills, Her, 12 Years A Slave or Gravity we’re calling the usher.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: iTunes, Disney