Back in November 2018, it was revealed that Walt Disney World would be replacing some of their PhotoPass photographers with automated cameras at select character meet and greets. Now, we have some new information on how the new system will work.
Blog Mickey reports that the new system is being tested at the Tinker Bell meet and greet at the Magic Kingdom. The system reportedly uses artificial intelligence to determine when it should be taking photos.
Above the box, there will be a video camera that uses artificial intelligence to know when to take photos. The example we were given was a hug. When Tinkerbell welcomes guests with a hug, the video camera will tell the high definition cameras in the box to fire off a series of photos to capture the experience.
Blog Mickey
The cameras will capture photos from multiple heights and from a wide angle. They’ll be automatically cropped before arriving in the guest’s PhotoPass account. Guests will tap their MagicBand at a new location following the meet and greet to link their photos to their account.
Guests who wish to have their photo taken with their phone or personal camera may still have them taken by the character attendant.
Based on the report and from guest feedback, the new automated camera system is still in the testing phases. The advanced technology being used sounds awfully impressive, but we’ll wait to pass final judgement until we see what the new photos look like.
