Source
r/Vive•
TheEmptySet

I just realized, we've reached the end of the Carousel of Progress

So, if you've been to Disney World, you may have seen the Carousel of Progress. It's a "ride", inspired by an installation of the same name designed by Walt Disney for the 1964 World's Fair that shows a progression of technology (and specifically electrical appliances, since it was sponsored by GE) by following a family home throughout several decades in a revolving theatre experience.

It is updated every once in a while to adapt to the state of modern technology, this is the last scene for the latest iteration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmrSiJTMf7s&t=15m16s

Seeing this recent video of someone's cousin playing SPT in the living room, with grandma watching and cheering along, is basically exactly what is portrayed in that scene: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4qq1hj/my_cousin_tried_spt_the_other_day_hilarity_ensues/ .

I think the Carousel needs another update...we've reached the future =)

Posted Jul 1, 2016, 5:58 PM UTC · edited

7941
mindslayer71•

Does anyone remember space mountain and at the end they had dioramas about the future? Yeah - im old.

20
jombojuice22•

It's okay, Pepperidge Farm remembers.

16
ZiedusRedditing from another reality•

But Pepperidge Farm aint just gonna keep it to Pepperidge Farms self free of charge.

1
KubeKing4556Stereoh-snap!•

Space Mountain still does, and the dioramas have been updated! Here's a clip.

Not sure if it's apparent (or even shown) in the video, but the left side wall is a green screen, so as you proceed forward on the moving walkway, your face appears among the displays.

3
mindslayer71•

Wow! Thanks for the link that was fun to watch. When I was a kid and we went they had a girl in her bedroom watching music videos. Things have come a long way. I tell my friends having a Vive is like having Disney World in the next room.

2
ttmlx:21 PP CA. Received•

I don't remember the dioramas at all and I've been on the ride 3 times. Oh well.

1
jhericoDeveloper: High Fidelity, ShadertoyVR•

I remember riding Mission to Mars and the Adventure through Inner Space ride where Star Tours is now. Super old.

1
SPQRxNightmare•

10+ years ago, when I rode the Carrousel of Progress for the first time, I wanted that headset so bad but I knew it would be a long time before It was done right. I was just on vacation and rode it about a month ago. It was after I ordered my Vive but before I got it in the mail. I thought the same thing. The future is here, we have everything that is in the future section of the ride. I'm sure there's still a great big beautiful tomorrow, but right now I'm satisfied with my Vive.

9
KubeKing4556Stereoh-snap!•

Still waiting on the voice-controlled oven, though.

3
SPQRxNightmare•

I'm sure it exists somewhere.. Unfortunate for whoever owns it though.

5
shuopao•

Friend's house is automated. They came home one day and the server was offline.

They couldn't even turn their lights on.

3
KubeKing4556Stereoh-snap!•

I wonder when we'll have our first licensed Smart Home Technicians...

1
fudspong•

The battery died on my car remote unlocker recently. I had to open the car door with the key, like a goddamn caveman.

1
Raoh522•

That was so god damn creepy, holy shit.

8
TheEmptySetOPGTX 970 | HTC Vive•

Haha, yea the animatronics are way creepier up-close. In person, it's slightly less creepy =P Back in the 60s, the animatronics in the Carousel were ahead of their time though.

5
Raoh522•

They're cool, but really creepy lol.

1
ttmlx:21 PP CA. Received•

Imagine waking up in that room all closed off with those things playing the show, not having any idea what is happening. Oh god, I'm gonna have nightmares.

1
9of9UK|:03|CC -> logmein PP -> it's here!•

It's like a life-sized Thunderbirds episode O.o

1
necessary2•

That's the trouble with Epcot. We've reached its future, so now just make it a hodgepodge.

7
eyeoxe•

I've seen this as a bit of a trend in a lot of places, and I'm not sure what to think. How and when did we forget about dreaming of the future? The future that has been in cyberpunk novels from baby boomers & gen-X is here now and becoming reality. Sure the "Way out there" Sci-fi is still a thing, but where is the "near future" stuff?

Where are the younger generations fantastic visions and crazy dreams of a better tomorrow? Should I be worried?

10
cebedec•

Full automatization and end of "jobs", VR via neuronal stimulation, nanotechnology, space elevators, mind-uploading, turning the solar system into a Matrioshka brain.

15
Krios47•

And if we're lucky, super intelligent AI assistants. Have them build us many simulations of large scale, intricate worlds to explore with others and inhabit for years and experience it all in the course of a day.

6
Cakiery•

And when humanity dies, only the AI will remain to explore their virtual worlds. They will be their own gods.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
SentientTrafficCone•

There's a lot of sci-fi about AI right now (Her, Ex Machina, Deus Ex, Chappie, Transcendence) and of course there has been a huge upturn in the amount of Space travel movies (Gravity, The Martian, Interstellar.) Granted, a lot of these movies predict a dystopia, but they are overall much more positive about the future than the sci-fi movies of the 70s/80s. This is my opinion and being an early VR adopter I'm definitely biased, but people today seem to be excited about technology in the future, it's just that that hope is tempered (at least in the US) by a massive amount of distrust in the economy, the government, and the companies that produce the technology.

5
Velp__•

I think the next big things well be mars and earth orbit. As far as how we interact with technology how much more well the human computer interface improve? We can already talk to it, touch to control, scan 3d space, read body moments, and can see our heart rate with a camera. Next could be more biometrics, computers reading our mind or computers predicting what we want/need before we request something.

3
KubeKing4556Stereoh-snap!•

I think our first Marswalks will spark renewed interest in the sciences.

1
LegendBeginsSword & Shield Dev | Legend Labs•

Biomodifications, nanotechnology, flying cars (hurry it up already!), interplanetary travel, AR, smart homes, etc. The difference is that kids nowadays don't look at it with a fantastical and wide-eyed view because the present day has proved the past's sci-fi to be possible.

2
DynaBeast•

My feeling is that it's a combination of a couple things that make near-future predictions less common;

  • Technology is advancing at such an astronomical rate that predicting the future is either silly or naming the tech that releases next year.
  • Actual expert predicions of the future are much more grim than they ever have been in the past (global warming, sentient AI, total surveillance, automation and obsolescence of human workers, etc.), which steers people away from dreaming of wholly utopic futures.
  • Most youth today see predictions of the future as silly childish fantasies, and either unnecessary or uncool.
  • Many of the predictions from years ago actually came true (universal communication, staggeringly large information repositories, impressively large computing power in your pocket, extremely fast and efficient transportation, clean and hygienic food easily and abundantly available), which makes people less likely to desire a fantastical future since they are already satisfied with their current situation.
  • It's been done before so many times that few predictions are novel outside of extremely outlandish and abstract ones.
1
hotTACOcheeseLost in Translation | Dev•

Peter Thiel (Paypal Mafia, Palantir, etc.) actually addressed these generational/societal views of the future in his book. Really interesting read.

He talked about how all generations of societies can be described as "Definite Optimists" (50s/60s America), "Definite Pesssimists" (Present China), "Indefinite Optimists"(Present America), or "Indefinite Pesssimists" (Present Europe). They either think that the future will be better or that it'll be worse. They either know exactly what will be different in the future, or they don't really another caring, just know that it'll be different. We just need more Definite Optimism in the world.

(Overview of the section here http://zakslayback.com/2014/10/07/pessimism-optimism-definite-indefinite-societies-according-to-peter-thiel/ )

1
giselekerozene•

Wow... i haven't seen that since I was there in the 90's and Disney still had Pleasure Island in all its boozy glory. (Kungaloosh ~ RIP Adventurers Club).

That ride looks like crap now. haha. I remember it being much more... futuristic at the time.

5
156970129•

more like creepy af! That thing gives me the heebiejeebies

3
OoGhiJ_MIQtxxXA•

Your post is an oxymoron, OP. There's still a great big beautiful tomorrow waiting at the end of every day.

5
SentientTrafficCone•

The game they show onscreen even has a launch sequence strangely similar to Eve Valkyrie!

3
bananaflame•

Oh man, I remember seeing that years ago... Never made the connection til now

2
Immiyh•

And the game they are playing is still in early access.

2
OctillerysnackerI CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW THE LAG IS GONE•

After playing with the Vive that game looks so boring now lol.

2
snobasteLivin' the Vive life | i7 5930k @ 4.3GHz | 2xGTX 1080 FE @ 2076•

I was in Disney World earlier this year and I realized the same thing. I spent the bus rides between parks checking up on this sub and r/Oculus.

Despite the outdated animatronics, I still love the shit out of Carousel of Progress simply for the fact that it makes you realize how far we've come in the last century.

When I first visited Disney World in 1998, that last scene seemed like something out of science fiction: voice-controlled appliances, virtual reality that didn't suck. I would have never imagined that these things would exist not even 20 years later.

What a time to be alive.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Meaix88•

And yet we still don't have anything they had on the Jetsons! I want my flying car that folds into a briefcase!

1
lightsteed•

Still a while off getting wireless tho

1
Bobanaut•

my first thought: Holy Shit. The uncanny valley is real, and they build it at Disney World!

But yeah the next bit they would have to show is most likely something not that easy to show without the actual technology. Think about floating holograms (would be needed in a holodeck), or augmented reality like the hololens/google glass.

1
aohige_rd•

I chuckled at the voice controlled home automation light dimming.

We totally do that with Amazon Echo today!

1