The history of Disney has always been one of technology complementing the story. For example, Walt Disney helped create the multiplane camera to help democratize animation, tech used for the first time in the movie “Snow White.” Without that innovation, it would not have been possible to make full-length animation movies.

“In [Disney’s] core history, you have these certain technologies that are put to use in the service of story,” said Avi Swerdlow (pictured, left), analyst of research and development at The Walt Disney Company Ltd. He explained that this mindset continues today, as the company looks at technology that can augment storytelling efforts, not replace or degrade it.

To talk about where Disney is going with the latest in digital technology and other initiatives, such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, Swerdlow joined Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during this week’s the NAB Show in Las Vegas. (* Disclosure below.)

How Disney manages new technologies

While there are so many new digital innovations, Swerdlow said it can be challenging to keep up on exactly what’s going on, with technological innovations (i.e., Ulta HDTV, volumetric capture) combined with the democratization of distribution (i.e., YouTube, Vimeo).

“I think it’s a balance. Given that we’re a big media company, some of those lower-end tools are really interesting to us,” said Swerdlow. He gave an example of news going up on Facebook Live, a technology that can be as compelling as a traditional broadcast. Learning how to integrate those things well are some of what Disney is trying to explore.

Swerdlow also said that VR was supposed to break out over the past few years, but he feels there aren’t enough devices yet to make it truly revolutionary at this time. He said he believes, at its core, VR is best serviced as the augmentation of information over something else.

He has observed that many organizations are starting to explore the “baby steps” that can be taken to implement some of that technology into workflow, “assuming that most people don’t have VR appliances yet,” Swerdlow said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of the NAB Show. (* Disclosure: Western Digital is sponsoring theCUBE’s coverage at the show. Neither Western Digital nor other sponsors have editorial influence on content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE