Disney unveils another glimpse of its groundbreaking AI-Powered Star Wars BD Robots

At Nvidia's GTC Artificial Intelligence conference in San Jose yesterday, Disney's AI-powered Star Wars robots took centerstage as special guests during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's keynote address.

Developed by Disney Research and Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, WDI's free-roaming robotic characters are powered by Nvidia Jetson robotics computers and are capable of great balance and highly expressive motions.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that Disney's Star Wars AI robots learned to walk in NVIDIA Isaac Sim - a robotics simulation platform that allows designers to design, test, and train AI-based robots.

WDI's work in AI-powered robotics promises to bring a new level of immersion and interactivity to walk-around characters in the Disney theme parks.

While we still don't know when Disney will bring its new robot technology to the theme parks, guests at Disneyland got to see a playtest in October 2023 in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland.

Adding more droids brings Galaxy's Edge closer to the original concept we were introduced to when the project was first announced in 2015. The land was meant to teem with alien life forms, including droids and other characters.

Star Wars Land concept art