Technologies

I Tried These Turbocharged XR Sunglasses at Disney Studios and Got a Stunning New View

I checked out Disney-backed startup Liminal Space’s tech in person. Its glasses are a theme park experience waiting to happen.

Standing on a crate inside Walt Disney Studios Stage 1 is Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy. He’s talking with a crowd of people wearing the same ordinary-looking sunglasses that I am, and is larger than life, speaking with full-body movements and natural gestures.

Then I take off the glasses, and I can see that Rocket was on a screen, not an animatronic figure standing on the physical crate. When Rocket stops moving, out from behind a curtain — Wizard of Oz-style — steps an actor who’s been doing all the movements and voice work on Rocket’s behalf.

I could wear these glasses all day and never know there’s anything out of the ordinary about them. They’re regular sunglasses when you’re outdoors, before transforming into XR glasses when you look at a special screen.

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The LED screen technology and glasses come from Liminal Space, a startup selected as part of the 2025 Disney Accelerator Program. Starting out by providing AR experiences at music concerts, Liminal Space creates display systems with microLED chip technology. This produces holographic 3D displays used for everything from stadiums and arenas to smaller spaces like attractions and galleries.

During a Demo Day event at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank in November, Liminal Space co-founder and CEO Nathan Huber explains on-screen that he wanted to improve on how virtual reality is a «solo, isolating experience» because you’re wearing a hulking headset alone, and all you can see is the display. You can’t share it with the people around you.

«We can give you that same level of immersion and awe [as VR], but you can now see your friends and family … and do it all for one to 10,000 people at the same time,» Huber says in the Demo Day video, describing a world where things are «augmented by digital enhancements all around you.»

Liminal Space’s sunglasses are a little closer to augmented reality (AR) than they are to VR, as well as a huge step up from old-school 3D glasses that are currently used in theme parks.

Whereas VR — like Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3 — requires a headset and drops you into a fully virtual world, AR overlays the real world with graphics. Smart glasses, like Meta’s Ray-Bans (which Disneyland has already been experimenting with), use AR to overlay information over the real world, as well as providing camera-recording functions and phone connectivity.

As theme parks compete with one another to provide their guests with the most immersive atmosphere possible, Disney’s backing of Liminal Space shows it’s interested in adding more hyperrealistic screens to its parks.

How realistic are these XR visuals?

After Rocket steps away, the Liminal Space demo screen takes us through the world of Avatar, showcasing landscapes from the upcoming sequels (no photos allowed). We soar through thick green vegetation, pulsating trees, floating cliffs, neon flowers and flying reptiles.

«The quality of the visuals — it is bright, it is crisp, I am seeing details in this footage that I’ve never seen before,» Leslie Evans, executive Imagineer at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, says in the video. «People painstakingly rendered these scenes, and if that’s happened, I want you to see every detail. I want the contrast to be top-notch, I want you to feel like it’s real.»

It does feel as real as 3D and VR can: Everyone gasps as we reach a summit in the Avatar world and tilt forward, «falling» down into the rainforest below. Despite these dizzying heights, it’s somehow less nauseating than strapping on a full VR headset and gazing into another reality. Maybe it’s because you can still see the real world around you, or because you’re not wearing a heavy headpiece.

Leaving aside the comparisons to VR and AR, these glasses offer a far more sophisticated version of the screens on the Avatar Flight of Passage ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida, especially with those new Avatar visuals I experienced. Liminal Space’s sunglasses are the next step up from those awkward, plasticky sets handed to you at the start of rides and shows like PhilharMagic and Toy Story Mania — the ones you’re told not to wear until the show starts, and that only really work if you’re looking dead straight at the screen and position them just right — with the idea being that you could walk around comfortably in them all day and have them work everywhere.

This seems to be what Disney intends to do with the technology (Disney tells me it’s still exploring possibilities and doesn’t have anything to share just now). The glasses do double duty, both as sunglasses and whenever you come into contact with a screen at an attraction or while strolling through a land.

Modular screens throughout theme parks?

The Liminal Space glasses also work from multiple viewing angles while looking at screens, which helps create the feeling of total immersion.

Michael Koperwas, supervisor of Creative Development and Digital Design at Industrial Light & Magic — the famed visual effects studio founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas in the 1970s — spoke about using modular screens from Liminal Space for park experiences.

«All of these different screens create these low-friction, wonderful ways to expand the world that you’re already in,» Koperwas says during the Disney Demo Day showcase video. «Having a modular display like that is essential to creating these locations that feel seamless, feel magical, feel wonderful, and are just full of surprises.»

The company’s glasses are cheap to make, Liminal Space says, meaning theme parks could easily provide thousands of pairs to guests, who could even leave with them at the end of the day and bring them back for their next visit.

It wouldn’t be Disney’s first park wearable: In 2013, Disney introduced the MagicBand for guests to buy and wear at Walt Disney World, allowing them to swipe the band to enter parks and their hotel rooms, and to pay for merchandise and food. The MagicBand Plus added more functionality and came to Disneyland in 2022.

At Liminal Space’s demo, I switch from black-framed sunglasses to white ones and walk into the next room. It has an enormous circular screen showing Impressionist artworks, fading out of one and into the next. A gargantuan Vincent Van Gogh stares at me, inviting me to step inside his Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat. The image shifts to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and the soft saffron petals curl out toward me.

The image changes again, and this time I’m not just looking at a centuries-old painting — I’m standing in a European street as snow falls around me. Like a child watching a 3D movie for the first time, I can’t help but reach out to try to touch the drifting snowflakes. Through the Liminal Space sunglasses, they’re moving all around me.

And unlike those traditional 3D glasses you’d wear to watch a show in Disneyland, where the image doesn’t appear to be any closer if you move closer to the screen, Liminal Space’s demo feels like you’re stepping into the video itself. As I walk slowly closer to the falling snow, it begins to fall around me, moving into my peripheral vision as well as in front of me.

Walt Disney Imagineering wants to give park guests immersive experiences like these that don’t just feel like looking at a TV, says Jody Gerstner, executive of Show Systems at Walt Disney Imagineering.

«Because the circular [screen] performs so well with this bright an image, and because the filter gives you an unfettered view when you move your eyes back and forth, it could be a big win in our guest quality,» Gerstner says in the Demo Day video.

Speaking to a packed theater, Bonnie Rosen, general manager of Disney Accelerator, says the whole point, whether it’s AI, 3D printing or VR, is creating imagination that comes to life.

«Innovation happens every day at Disney,» she says. «This company lives and breathes creativity. We just don’t talk about it until it looks inevitable, and then someone calls it ‘Disney magic.'»

Technologies

Tim Cook Riffs on Retirement Rumors, AI, Phone Addiction and Trump

The Apple CEO discussed a range of topics on Good Morning America.

Tim Cook isn’t going anywhere just yet — not during Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations, not with the company preparing to introduce its first foldable phone, not while the tech giant is trying to figure out how to beat the AI race.

In a sit-down interview with Good Morning America host and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan this week, Cook, who turned 65 in November, said there was no truth to the rumors that he is considering retiring from Apple. He became CEO of the company in 2011, 13 years after joining from Compaq.

«I love what I do deeply. Twenty-eight years ago, I walked into Apple, and I’ve loved every day of it since,» Cook told Strahan. «We’ve had ups and downs, but the people I work with are so amazing. They bring out the best in me, and hopefully I can bring out the best in them.»

Strahan interviewed Cook during the Apple CEO’s visit to Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts in Harlem, where students use Apple technology through the company’s partnership with the nonprofit Save the Music.

Speculation about Cook stepping down has been circulating since last November, when the Financial Times cited unnamed sources saying that Apple was preparing to usher in a new CEO «as soon as next year.» Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman threw water on that report, saying he «would be shocked if Cook steps down in the time frame outlined by the FT.»

During Cook’s tenure as CEO, Apple’s revenue has nearly quadrupled, with the tech giant adding dozens of new iPhone models, several more iPads, and updated Apple Watches and AirPods. This year, Apple has launched several new products, including the MacBook Neo, which at $599 has disrupted the budget laptop market. The company’s first foldable phone could come later this year.

Touch some grass

The GMA interview was short but wide-ranging, including Cook’s thoughts on how much people use their iPhones. Many studies estimate that people across most generations spend at least 4 hours a day on their phones, with millennials and Gen Z spending 5 to 6 hours.

When asked what he worries about most regarding Apple products’ impact on society, Cook weighed in, telling Strahan he doesn’t want people using iPhones «too much.»

«I don’t want people looking at the smartphone more than they’re looking in someone’s eyes,» Cook said, «because if they’re just scrolling endlessly, this is not the way you want to spend your day. Go out and spend it in nature.»

More on Apple from CNET:

AI and privacy

Cook told Strahan that AI «can be so positive,» but his response when asked whether he was «worried» about it was fairly flat.

«Technology doesn’t want to be good, and it doesn’t want to be bad,» Cook said. «It’s in the hands of the user and the hands of the inventor.»

Strahan questioned how much of iPhone users’ private lives are feeding Apple’s AI learning machine. Cook told him that because the smartphone is encrypted, Apple doesn’t have access to it. He went on to say: «When we can’t answer a question on your device, we send it to something called private cloud compute, which is essentially a big device in the sky that has the same kind of security and architecture as your phone.»

On its website, Apple says that it «does not use our users’ private personal data or user interactions when training our foundation models.»

To date, Apple has been cautious in diving into the AI scrum. While Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are spending nearly $700 billion combined on AI tech this year, Apple is «only» investing $14 billion.

Trump and tariffs

Cook has been criticized for being too cozy with the Trump administration: donating $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inauguration; giving him a 24-karat gold plaque; and attending a White House screening of Melania, a film about the First Lady.

The Apple CEO told Strahan that he’s «not a political person» on either side.

«I’m kind of straight down the middle, and I focus on policy,» Cook said. «So, I’m very pleased that the president and the administration is accessible to talk about policy.»

One of those policies has been tariffs, which Trump has imposed on many nations to varying degrees during his second term in office, purportedly to pressure companies to shift their manufacturing to the US. The president has largely spared Apple, which promised to invest $600 billion over four years to make more products in the US.

Cook told Strahan that the glass for the front and back of an iPhone will come out of Kentucky by the end of the year, and that 100 million chip engines will be manufactured in Arizona this year. He also noted that 20 billion semiconductors will be made in the US. «We’re a very proud American company, and we want to do as much here as we can,» Cook said.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 19, #1012

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 19 #1012.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features another tricky purple category, where words hide inside the clues and you have to dig them out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Children’s stories.

Green group hint: Lucky charms.

Blue group hint: One color, then the next.

Purple group hint: Hidden words relating to music.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Folk tale characters.

Green group: Good luck symbols.

Blue group: Things that change color.

Purple group: Ending in music genres.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is folk tale characters. The four answers are Chicken Little, Frog Prince, Gingerbread Man and Goldilocks.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is good luck symbols. The four answers are evil eye, four-leaf clover, horseshoe and rabbit’s foot.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that change color. The four answers are chameleon, mood ring, sunset and traffic light.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending in music genres. The four answers are baby blues, pet rock, scrap metal and soda pop.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 19, #542

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 542 for Thursday, March 19.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is tricky. Remember that many athletes’ surnames look like common words, so if you’re having trouble sorting the answers, think about whether a particular word could be someone’s last name. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Football division.

Green group hint: They catch the pigskin.

Blue group hint: College hoopsters.

Purple group hint: Where’s the glass slipper?