WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Disney, Navy team up on sub design (Groton-WTNH) _ Here's an unusual partnership for you: The US Navy is turning to the Walt Disney Corporation for ideas about how to design the subs of the future. Today's submarines have complex informational systems that can be hard to read. The Navy would like to find better ways of giving its submariners vital information. So they're tapping into the creative genius of Disney, hoping to change the course of the submarine fleet and how it uses technology. News Channel 8's Peter Standring reports from our southeastern newsroom at The Day. These sailors are on the cutting edge of technology. Their submarine, USS Alexandria, is a special boat outfitted with the Navy's newest systems. They're designed to be as 'user-friendly' as possible. Lt. Cmdr. Drew St. John, USS Alexandria: "You can develop a machine that can calculate the meaning of life, but if it can't get the meaning across to the operator, it's useless." Unfortunately not all of the Navy's subs are like the Alexandria. In fact, most have systems and displays that can be hard to decipher. So the service has turned to this man among others for creative alternatives. Bran Ferren, Disney Imagineering: "The challenge of information technology in subs is to get the info presented to the war fighters in such a way that it is natural to the way they process information." Bran Ferren is an information guru at the Disney corporation. It's his job to think-up big ideas. Ferren went out with the crew of the Alexandria to see for himself how things work on a sub. Once aboard, he said the biggest problem was not having a sense of where he was. To fix that, he says subs need three and four dimensional systems displays that can give sailors a better sense of where they are and what's going on around them. Ferren: "So that, if a target is over there, and it's acoustic, it sounds like it's coming from other there, rather than some ambiguous place." The technology Ferren has envisioned may still be years away from actually being used, but the Navy is keen to listen to his suggestions, and sailors say the creativity that's worked for Disney could also work for them. Bryan Torrisi, USS Alexandria: "With the history of the Navy, yeah, it's kinda odd, but it's probably the direction we need to go." Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Disney, Navy team up on sub design
(Groton-WTNH) _ Here's an unusual partnership for you: The US Navy is turning to the Walt Disney Corporation for ideas about how to design the subs of the future. Today's submarines have complex informational systems that can be hard to read. The Navy would like to find better ways of giving its submariners vital information. So they're tapping into the creative genius of Disney, hoping to change the course of the submarine fleet and how it uses technology.
News Channel 8's Peter Standring reports from our southeastern newsroom at The Day.

These sailors are on the cutting edge of technology. Their submarine, USS Alexandria, is a special boat outfitted with the Navy's newest systems. They're designed to be as 'user-friendly' as possible.

Lt. Cmdr. Drew St. John, USS Alexandria: "You can develop a machine that can calculate the meaning of life, but if it can't get the meaning across to the operator, it's useless."

Unfortunately not all of the Navy's subs are like the Alexandria. In fact, most have systems and displays that can be hard to decipher. So the service has turned to this man among others for creative alternatives.

Bran Ferren, Disney Imagineering: "The challenge of information technology in subs is to get the info presented to the war fighters in such a way that it is natural to the way they process information."

Bran Ferren is an information guru at the Disney corporation. It's his job to think-up big ideas. Ferren went out with the crew of the Alexandria to see for himself how things work on a sub. Once aboard, he said the biggest problem was not having a sense of where he was.

To fix that, he says subs need three and four dimensional systems displays that can give sailors a better sense of where they are and what's going on around them.

Ferren: "So that, if a target is over there, and it's acoustic, it sounds like it's coming from other there, rather than some ambiguous place."

The technology Ferren has envisioned may still be years away from actually being used, but the Navy is keen to listen to his suggestions, and sailors say the creativity that's worked for Disney could also work for them.

Bryan Torrisi, USS Alexandria: "With the history of the Navy, yeah, it's kinda odd, but it's probably the direction we need to go."

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