US Science & Engineering Event

Disney partnered with the National Academy of Engineering and its Grand Challenges to create a TRON-themed exhibit at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. The event took place on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010 and Sunday, Oct, 24, 2010, on the National Mall (Washington, DC).

More information about the festival is available at: www.usasciencefestival.org.

The TRON exhibit included a light cycle and activities that sparked imagination.

Kids and families explored the visually-stunning cyber universe of Disney's upcoming theatrical release TRON: Legacy and participated in activities that brought many of the science & engineering concepts from the film to life, including virtual reality and laser scanning, which are related to two of this century's Grand Challenges for Engineering. It also included a light art activity.

Here are some examples of light art and instructions for how to do it at home.

The Disney TRON exhibit included:

• Interactive light-painting exhibit where participants created TRON-themed light paintings.
• Real Props from the film, including Sam Flynn’s Light Cycle and the laser that transports Sam Flynn from the real world to the virtual world of TRON
• Hands-on activities. Laser scanning and virtual brain surgery activities brought science and engineering concepts from the film to life.
• Demonstrations. There were live demonstrations of motion capture used to create some of the visual effects in TRON.
• A real-life Disney Imagineer, Lanny Smoot, also appeared at the event to discuss science and technology.

The event was the result of a partnership between The Walt Disney Company, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Exploratorium in San Francisco.