Disney’s looking to create REAL lightsaber technology for Star Wars Land, and we’ll be first in line

Know that Star Wars Land we keep talking so much about? It’s going to be located in both Disneyland and Disney World, so no matter what coast you’re on, you’ll be just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Millennium Falcon. Disney is promising us a totally out-of-this-world experience, one that’ll completely immerse us in the Star Wars story, on top of dropping us right into the ever-expanding Star Wars world.

While — though it might be heard to hear — everything in the park will be fake, made out of hard work, magic, and pixie dust, Disney is certainly trying to make it as real as possible. So, they’re designing lightsabers.

Yes, lightsabers. If you’re not careful, you just might lose a hand.

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According to PatentYogi, Disney has just filed a patent that will bring lightsabers to life. For real. Okay, obviously they will be real ~fake~ lightsabers, and not actually capable of cutting off a hand, or cutting a Darth Maul in half. But, from the sound of this patent, it looks like there’s going to be some sort of interactive Jedi show, where you’ll actually be given a lightsaber that operates as if it WERE real.

This new patent (US 20160201888 A1) is for, “Audience interaction projection system,” and it’s described as:

“A process and system capture invisible radiation that is reflected or emitted from an object to precisely locate the object. The process and system project visible light from a light source toward the object such that the light is precisely targeted at the object. Preferably, the visible light passes through an atmosphere containing particulate matter rendering the visible light as a beam that appears to emanate from the object rather than from the light source.”

Is that all gibberish? Sure is! Basically, what Disney is trying to create is this:

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PatentYogi breaks it down again, if you need it to be explained to you in a non-Star Wars way:

Basically, an audience member in some type of show/event would hold a lightsaber with little infrared readers on it, and those infrared readers would send back readings to another device, that sends MORE readings back to the lightsaber, so everything talks to one another. Technology is crazy, friends.

In the end, what does this mean for us? It means that your wildest dreams of wielding a lightsaber might just come true. Sure, you’ve probably held (and/or bought) the plastic lightsabers at Target before, but none of those ever like, really worked. This one will, and you just might be able to deflect, block, and cut people’s arms off use the Force for real.

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Disney hasn’t commented on this brand new technology, and they probably won’t until it’s real and happening in Star Wars Land. You might want to start practicing your smooth lightsaber skills in the comforts of your own home, just in case.

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