This NEW Universal Patent Might Be the Answer to SHORTER WAIT TIMES!

Universal parks have been stepping up their game over the past few years and that doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon!

Universal Hollywood recently opened Super Nintendo World, and crews are hard at work bringing the new Epic Universe theme park to life in Orlando. Not only that, but Universal has filed a new patent that seeks to shorten your wait in line.

Thanks to Orlando Business Journal, we’ve got a look at a new patent recently filed by Universal Destinations & Experiences — and we’re pretty dang excited about it. The parent is called “Guest Measurement Systems and Methods,” and it uses camera scans to discern whether or not guests in line for a ride fit the height requirements for that ride.

So, how would this shorten waits? The system would inform guests if someone in their group isn’t tall enough — that way, they can leave the line sooner if they know they don’t qualify. It could both shorten the lines and reduce frustration for guests who have waited in line to find that they’re unable to ride.

The guest measurement system includes one or more cameras and is configured to “generate image data indicative of guest characteristics in an attraction measurement area of an individual attraction.”

The processor identifies one or more anatomical features of the guest in the image data and then creates a virtual version of the person in a virtual space. This way, a guest height calculation can be generated based on scaled distances between anatomical features.

The patent could also be used to measure more than just height and would also be relevant to size-restricted attractions. Ultimately, we’ll have to wait and see what Universal ends up doing with this patent, but you can be sure we’ll let you know if we learn any more!