The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has teamed up with Walt Disney Studios to co-create an interactive exhibit in Tent 102 at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, which will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23 and 24 from 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. each day. The hands-on experience blends themes from the upcoming major motion picture TRON: Legacy with the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.
Exhibit-goers will be transported into the digital world of TRON: Legacy and examine where movie fantasy and reality intersect. Visitors can try 3-D scanning and see how it’s bringing the real and virtual worlds closer together. They'll get a chance to do brain surgery on a computer-generated replica of a real brain, and experience a trip into the TRON: Legacy digital grid through an incredible 3-D light painting activity created especially for this exhibit.
TRON: Legacy is the stand-alone sequel to the 1982 motion picture TRON. Both star Jeff Bridges as software engineer and video game developer Kevin Flynn, who was digitized by a laser and transported into a world of computer games in the original film. In TRON: Legacy, Flynn’s son Sam finds himself in the digital realm where his father has lived for the past two decades. The film, in theaters nationwide on Dec. 17, 2010, involved cutting-edge movie technologies, including one that allows Bridges to act as his younger self.
“Engineering is woven into the very fabric of TRON: Legacy. The story is rich with themes about technology and its evolving relationship with humanity in an increasingly digital world,” said co-producer Justin Springer. “The line between science and art is blurring more than ever. And some of the most talented artists in modern filmmaking are engineers, mathematicians, architects, and computer programmers.”
An international committee of some of today’s most accomplished engineers and scientists determined the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering (www.engineeringchallenges.org). They identified 14 potentially “game changing” goals for helping people and the planet thrive in the 21st century that include enhancing virtual reality; engineering better medicines; advancing personalized learning; engineering the tools of scientific discovery; and reverse engineering the brain.