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Californian tech company Edge Innovations
has unveiled an astonishingly lifelike
robot dolphin. Could this mean an
end to captive orcas and dolphins?
Kath Hudson asks CEO, Walt Conti
Every sub-system within the animatronic creatures has to be custom designed / Edge Innovations
Blending live puppeteering, programmed behaviour, and artificial intelligence, Edge Innovations – which has created numerous animatronic marine mammals for Hollywood blockbusters – believes its hyper real sea creatures offer the opportunity to reimagine aquaria. This technology could make captive orcas, sharks and dolphins a thing of the past, instead offering interactive experiences with robotic cetaceans. Edge CEO, Walt Conti, talks us through the challenges in creating these lifelike robots and the potential they offer.
What inspired the idea for the animatronic dolphins? The technology which enabled the creation of the dolphin sprung from Edge Innovations’ work in the film industry in the 1990s, creating the world’s first free-swimming, full size animatronic marine mammals. Prior to that, films such as Jaws were filmed with partial sections of an animatronic shark, rigged to big platforms and filmed from specific angles, such as one side or the front.
For Free Willy, Edge created completely self-contained orcas which could be filmed from any angle. Edge went on to create many aquatic animatronics for films such as Flipper, Deep Blue Sea, The Perfect Storm and The Aquatic.
In 2000, Roger Holzberg, a VP at Disney Imagineering and currently head of experience design at Edge, came up with a concept for an attraction that would feature this technology. We collaborated on two pilot attractions with Disney using version 1.0 of the dolphin: one for Epcot and one for Castaway Cay, Disney’s cruise ship island in the Bahamas. Disney did not proceed with the attraction at the time, but the pilots were a huge hit with guests and tested off the charts, showing the potential for the concept.
This current initiative was born from the realisation that there has been building resistance over the last decade against keeping these types of marine mammals – dolphins, orcas, belugas – in captivity. In addition, there has been a convergence of key technologies which makes this vision financially and experientially viable on a large and worldwide basis. We are able to take advantage of the billions of dollars now being spent in the development of the electric vehicle battery systems and autonomous sensors and AI. These industries have driven down the cost of these key elements which are integral to our creations.
What specific features and characteristics did you want to achieve? Our goal was pretty simple. We wanted to create real-time animatronics which were so realistic in appearance and movement that even up close people would interact with these creations as if they were alive. Once you have achieved that level of suspension of disbelief in guests then it opens up the opportunity for all sorts of engaging, entertaining and educational experiences.
How did you go about making this vision a reality? The success of these animatronics relies on an obsessive attention to detail. We base the animals on actual skeleton information and build out from there. Having that foundation ensures animals will move in the right way.
What were the main challenges? It’s extremely challenging to package all the technology – motors, electronics, batteries and skin systems in a way that fits inside an accurate form of a dolphin. One can’t just use off the shelf industrial components since they are typically not optimised for size. Therefore every sub-system has to be custom designed. Getting the skin to behave in a natural way is also very challenging and requires multiple rounds of prototyping and testing. Finally, achieving the right buoyancy control and stability while swimming is especially difficult. From a physics and engineering point of view one gains an incredible appreciation for mother nature when trying to recreate an animal like the dolphin. All in all the development of the V1.0 dolphin took over two years.
What has been the response from consumers? Without exception we have observed a complete suspension of disbelief in guests, both children and adults. Even when told these are robots, they end up petting the dolphins or trying to kiss them. There is some kind of magic which transcends all mechanical and silicone elements which ends up creating a powerful engagement with guests.
Have any attractions committed to buying one yet? We’re in advanced talks with our Chinese clients to populate three new large aquaria in China. COVID-19 slowed some of the progress this year – we were all set to implement a pilot attraction at a large aquarium in California just before the shut down, which will be restarted once attendance has recovered.
Is it viable for attractions to invest in robots rather than having live animals? Yes. It has become more and more challenging to operate attractions based on keeping large marine mammals in captivity. Theres a growing awareness that the negative aspects of keeping these animals in these environments has affected profitability.
Yet the public hunger to learn about and experience these animals is still as strong as ever. We believe that we can provide an alternative way to create experiences which are just as powerful, entertaining and educational. From a cost standpoint, over a 10 year timeframe this technology is more cost-effective than keeping live animals.
Beyond the ethical aspect, what other advantages do the animatronics have? Marine parks have operated under the premise that the most engaging experiences with these animals is to have them do acrobatic stunts. We can replicate those experiences, but there are so many other experiences which can be delivered, such as a toddler dream time with a dolphin, snorkelling among great white sharks, or bringing the Jurassic Seas to life.
What’s next for you? We’re currently in development on the next generation – V3.0 – which will incorporate more AI, allowing both an ‘exhibit’ natural behaviour mode and a ‘real time’ puppeteered mode for recurring shows.
Will you replicate any other mammals? The beauty of this technology is that you can replicate any marine mammal. It creates an opportunity to experience the wonders of the ocean world through a much broader range of the incredible animals which inhabit it.
"Marine parks have focused on acrobatics.
We can replicate this, but there are many other experiences – toddler dreamtime with
a dolphin; snorkelling with great white sharks" – Walt Conti
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2021 issue 1
Editor's letter: Doing better
The Black Lives Matter movement has challenged museums professionals to ask testing questions about their role in reparative history and the way we display and interpret racist and colonial collections
People: Brent Bushnell
Two Bit Circus has pivoted to an innovative online model aimed at keeping its community in touch
People: Michel Linet-Frion
After decades creating for Disney, Grévin and Center Parcs, Linet-Frion has launched his own consultancy
People: Anthony Rawlins
The Digital Visitor CEO explains a new whitepaper on how attractions can survive 2021 and beyond
Interview: Sarah Roots
Warner Bros’ Sarah Roots shares exciting details of the second Harry Potter Studio Tour, set to open in Japan in 2023
Inspired: Alone with Vermeer
The Mauritshuis in The Hague has allowed visitors one-to-one time with Vermeer’s <i>View of Delft</i>, ‘the most beautiful painting in the world’
Aquariums: Into the deep
Merlin and the Sea Life Trust share the highs and lows of the epic journey to get two whales to their new home in the world’s first beluga whale sanctuary in Iceland
Innovation: Sea change
Edge Innovations’ incredibly
life-like robot dolphins could spell the end of marine mammals in aquariums, says CEO Walt Conti
Interview: Bob Rogers
As BRC Imagination Arts celebrates 40 years in business, its founder celebrates his team’s achievements
Sponsored: Technically Creative
With clients including the Xplore
Family Entertainment Centre in Athens,
Technically Creative provides a one
stop, in-house solution to create
memorable and magical experiences.
We talk to CEO, Marc Broadbent
Sponsored: Fun Spot: Providing turnkey solutions
Industry innovator, Fun Spot, is on a roll, with a new EMEA
office and a range of innovative new products to help operators
deliver excellence to the family fun market. We find out more
Interview: Phil Hettema
The Hettema Group president on weathering the pandemic and creating powerful experiences
Californian tech company Edge Innovations
has unveiled an astonishingly lifelike
robot dolphin. Could this mean an
end to captive orcas and dolphins?
Kath Hudson asks CEO, Walt Conti
Every sub-system within the animatronic creatures has to be custom designed / Edge Innovations
Blending live puppeteering, programmed behaviour, and artificial intelligence, Edge Innovations – which has created numerous animatronic marine mammals for Hollywood blockbusters – believes its hyper real sea creatures offer the opportunity to reimagine aquaria. This technology could make captive orcas, sharks and dolphins a thing of the past, instead offering interactive experiences with robotic cetaceans. Edge CEO, Walt Conti, talks us through the challenges in creating these lifelike robots and the potential they offer.
What inspired the idea for the animatronic dolphins? The technology which enabled the creation of the dolphin sprung from Edge Innovations’ work in the film industry in the 1990s, creating the world’s first free-swimming, full size animatronic marine mammals. Prior to that, films such as Jaws were filmed with partial sections of an animatronic shark, rigged to big platforms and filmed from specific angles, such as one side or the front.
For Free Willy, Edge created completely self-contained orcas which could be filmed from any angle. Edge went on to create many aquatic animatronics for films such as Flipper, Deep Blue Sea, The Perfect Storm and The Aquatic.
In 2000, Roger Holzberg, a VP at Disney Imagineering and currently head of experience design at Edge, came up with a concept for an attraction that would feature this technology. We collaborated on two pilot attractions with Disney using version 1.0 of the dolphin: one for Epcot and one for Castaway Cay, Disney’s cruise ship island in the Bahamas. Disney did not proceed with the attraction at the time, but the pilots were a huge hit with guests and tested off the charts, showing the potential for the concept.
This current initiative was born from the realisation that there has been building resistance over the last decade against keeping these types of marine mammals – dolphins, orcas, belugas – in captivity. In addition, there has been a convergence of key technologies which makes this vision financially and experientially viable on a large and worldwide basis. We are able to take advantage of the billions of dollars now being spent in the development of the electric vehicle battery systems and autonomous sensors and AI. These industries have driven down the cost of these key elements which are integral to our creations.
What specific features and characteristics did you want to achieve? Our goal was pretty simple. We wanted to create real-time animatronics which were so realistic in appearance and movement that even up close people would interact with these creations as if they were alive. Once you have achieved that level of suspension of disbelief in guests then it opens up the opportunity for all sorts of engaging, entertaining and educational experiences.
How did you go about making this vision a reality? The success of these animatronics relies on an obsessive attention to detail. We base the animals on actual skeleton information and build out from there. Having that foundation ensures animals will move in the right way.
What were the main challenges? It’s extremely challenging to package all the technology – motors, electronics, batteries and skin systems in a way that fits inside an accurate form of a dolphin. One can’t just use off the shelf industrial components since they are typically not optimised for size. Therefore every sub-system has to be custom designed. Getting the skin to behave in a natural way is also very challenging and requires multiple rounds of prototyping and testing. Finally, achieving the right buoyancy control and stability while swimming is especially difficult. From a physics and engineering point of view one gains an incredible appreciation for mother nature when trying to recreate an animal like the dolphin. All in all the development of the V1.0 dolphin took over two years.
What has been the response from consumers? Without exception we have observed a complete suspension of disbelief in guests, both children and adults. Even when told these are robots, they end up petting the dolphins or trying to kiss them. There is some kind of magic which transcends all mechanical and silicone elements which ends up creating a powerful engagement with guests.
Have any attractions committed to buying one yet? We’re in advanced talks with our Chinese clients to populate three new large aquaria in China. COVID-19 slowed some of the progress this year – we were all set to implement a pilot attraction at a large aquarium in California just before the shut down, which will be restarted once attendance has recovered.
Is it viable for attractions to invest in robots rather than having live animals? Yes. It has become more and more challenging to operate attractions based on keeping large marine mammals in captivity. Theres a growing awareness that the negative aspects of keeping these animals in these environments has affected profitability.
Yet the public hunger to learn about and experience these animals is still as strong as ever. We believe that we can provide an alternative way to create experiences which are just as powerful, entertaining and educational. From a cost standpoint, over a 10 year timeframe this technology is more cost-effective than keeping live animals.
Beyond the ethical aspect, what other advantages do the animatronics have? Marine parks have operated under the premise that the most engaging experiences with these animals is to have them do acrobatic stunts. We can replicate those experiences, but there are so many other experiences which can be delivered, such as a toddler dream time with a dolphin, snorkelling among great white sharks, or bringing the Jurassic Seas to life.
What’s next for you? We’re currently in development on the next generation – V3.0 – which will incorporate more AI, allowing both an ‘exhibit’ natural behaviour mode and a ‘real time’ puppeteered mode for recurring shows.
Will you replicate any other mammals? The beauty of this technology is that you can replicate any marine mammal. It creates an opportunity to experience the wonders of the ocean world through a much broader range of the incredible animals which inhabit it.
"Marine parks have focused on acrobatics.
We can replicate this, but there are many other experiences – toddler dreamtime with
a dolphin; snorkelling with great white sharks" – Walt Conti
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2021 issue 1
Editor's letter: Doing better
The Black Lives Matter movement has challenged museums professionals to ask testing questions about their role in reparative history and the way we display and interpret racist and colonial collections
People: Brent Bushnell
Two Bit Circus has pivoted to an innovative online model aimed at keeping its community in touch
People: Michel Linet-Frion
After decades creating for Disney, Grévin and Center Parcs, Linet-Frion has launched his own consultancy
People: Anthony Rawlins
The Digital Visitor CEO explains a new whitepaper on how attractions can survive 2021 and beyond
Interview: Sarah Roots
Warner Bros’ Sarah Roots shares exciting details of the second Harry Potter Studio Tour, set to open in Japan in 2023
Inspired: Alone with Vermeer
The Mauritshuis in The Hague has allowed visitors one-to-one time with Vermeer’s <i>View of Delft</i>, ‘the most beautiful painting in the world’
Aquariums: Into the deep
Merlin and the Sea Life Trust share the highs and lows of the epic journey to get two whales to their new home in the world’s first beluga whale sanctuary in Iceland
Innovation: Sea change
Edge Innovations’ incredibly
life-like robot dolphins could spell the end of marine mammals in aquariums, says CEO Walt Conti
Interview: Bob Rogers
As BRC Imagination Arts celebrates 40 years in business, its founder celebrates his team’s achievements
Sponsored: Technically Creative
With clients including the Xplore
Family Entertainment Centre in Athens,
Technically Creative provides a one
stop, in-house solution to create
memorable and magical experiences.
We talk to CEO, Marc Broadbent
Sponsored: Fun Spot: Providing turnkey solutions
Industry innovator, Fun Spot, is on a roll, with a new EMEA
office and a range of innovative new products to help operators
deliver excellence to the family fun market. We find out more
Interview: Phil Hettema
The Hettema Group president on weathering the pandemic and creating powerful experiences
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
Eighty-four per cent of consumers now say wellness is a top priority in their lives, with this
percentage increasing year on year, according to a preview presentation of McKinsey’s Future of
Wellness 2026 research report.
Mass protests have been taking place since Monday 1 June in Albania over the development of
a luxury resort by Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Global Wellness Day (GWD) marked its 15th anniversary on Saturday 13 June 2026, with the
theme: #JoyMagenta – a celebration of the healing qualities of simple gestures and activities
that spark joy.
Global luxury hospitality brand, Six Senses, has partnered with longevity healthcare provider,
HUM2N, to launch a clinic at Six Senses London, at The Whiteley.
As part of its first hotel partnership, Mayrlife – the medical health resort company known for its
site in Altaussee, Austria – has launched a day clinic at the Rosewood Vienna.
Premium London health club, KX Chelsea, will imminently unveil its most significant
redevelopment since its launch in 2002 to create an integrated wellness model combining
training, recovery and relaxation.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth, on the northeast coast of Saint Barthélemy in the French
West Indies, is offering a programme of ocean-inspired yoga classes between 8-14 June to
celebrate Global Wellness Day (GWD).
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi, in Malaysia, has revealed a schedule for Global Wellness Day
(GWD) that includes guided rainforest walks, mindful movement and guided coastal meditation
experiences.
