New Innoventions Coming to EPCOT from IBM
Author: Mike
No cast members could provide details about what to expect from behind the walled in area of Innoventions West. When asked, one even said “they never tell us anything”. The only clue I got was that “it’s something to do with computers”. Well… since the sponsor is IBM, it didn’t take a whole lot of thinking to guess that would be a part of the coming THINKplace.
You may have been familiar with the predecessor to this new exhibit. It had an interactive tic tac toe game and you got to do the digital snapshot/email thing. There was the “PlanetRider” that evolved in recent years to an invention game. 
It had a nice projection system, but never seemed to get a lot of attention from guests. It wasn’t exactly cutting-edge technology. Maybe it was because it didn’t really come from Disney Imagineers, but from a company called Thinc Design. (yes it’s spelled that way) The Thinc Design website shows a ton of great projects they have done for other museums and science centers. You can also see the details of the old THINKplace exhibits.
But it seems that now IBM has recently embraced the ThinkPlace as a new business model. That may give us more of a clue about what might be coming soon. A check of the IBM Research and Innovation site reveals that the ThinkPlace is a pretty cool new business practice from IBM that involves all of their employees. They say their ThinkPlace is “where inventive ideas mature into innovative solutions that can be rapidly developed and deployed”. If they can create an interactive exhibit area that demonstrates that in such a way that it gets visitors to stop on their way to the character greeting area, it may be the first in recent years to show really new innovations for a future world.
Tags: Changes at EPCOT, Innoventions
4 Responses to “New Innoventions Coming to EPCOT from IBM”
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Disney Tickets
December 28th, 2008 at 6:56 am
We went to Innoventions during Christmas week and the new Thinkplace attraction was open. The attraction features an interactive video game where you get to go inside the game. First stop is a video kiosk where you record yourself running, jumping and doing a victory dance. Then then you get to play your game as you. The game itself is fairly simple but lots of fun. It features four levels. The first three are inside a computer where you have to leap around chips on a circuit board avoiding “bugs”, through tubes avoiding being zapped, across a selectric type writer avoding the the printing head, through a card reader avoiding getting hit by a giant punch card and finally surf across a blue planet to reach the end. While the game is fairly simple the novelty of being in the game is a real draw for kids of all ages. It was probably the favorite (non-thrill ride) attraction of my kids at the park and they did it 3 times and wanted to do more. If you provide your email they will send you a version to play at home and play with your friends.
Be sure to stop, you will be glad you did.
Andrew
December 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Thanks for the update Andrew. I’ve been busy with end of year stuff. I’ll be back to EPCOT next weekend. I knew Thinkplace had opened and I’ll be anxious to see the new exhibit. Your review was excellent! It sounds like they have done some things right. Thanks
January 20th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
[...] You may recall an earlier post about changes in Innoventions. [...]
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
We too were there the week of Christmas and played the interactive game. My kids are still waiting to play the game at home, but we have not received instructions. I did receive an instant email that said they would send another email soon. Please let me know if you know how to track it down.
Thank you!