A real lightsaber. How is that possible?
Probably not, of course. But when Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro ended his April 8 presentation by pulling out a never-before-seen retractable lightsaber – no video evidence, remember – Disney and Star Wars fans went wild online. Speculation was rife, much of it pointing to a 2018 patent for a ‘sword device with retractable, internally lit blade.’ I went through that patent late that night and tried to figure out a way to show it Verge readers how it has worked since then. Heck, I even ordered a pair of LED slap bracelets that have yet to arrive.
But it seems I don’t need them because VR developer Ben Ridout has already done better, which brilliantly highlights Disney’s proprietary concept with a series of simple animations:
Did #Disney come up with a real effect # lightsaber
Yes, they did.
It won’t melt through blast metal doors or cut off your hand, but it does have a lighted blade that extends and retracts at the touch of a button.
This animation shows the concept behind the technology. pic.twitter.com/e7fwP06CxF
– Ben Ridout (@benridout) April 12, 2021
Then widen the bands and increase the curve so that they can partially wrap around each other and form a complete cylinder. Control this system with a motor so that both reels can be retracted and extended synchronously at the touch of a button. Now you have a lightsaber! pic.twitter.com/B3lLMmclDN
– Ben Ridout (@benridout) April 12, 2021
Yep, that’s right – the magic here really comes down to some nice motorized tape measures. The patent even mentions “a metal carpenter’s ribbon” as a source of inspiration.
According to the patent, the lightsaber ‘blade’ consists of two spools of translucent material that lie flat when fully wound, like a tape measure in the reel. When each ribbon is shot from the end, it bends into a semicircle that forms half of the blade. They are permanently mounted on a rounded “tip” of the Lightsaber that also travels past a series of flexible LEDs mounted on a third motorized coil in the Lightsaber frame. The two halves of the blade are zipped together by a “blade shape” as they exit the Lightsaber, creating a single Lightsaber beam.
Will such a lightsaber be stiff enough for a practice duel? Only Disney’s Imagineers can say for sure, but regardless, this could be a game changer for the lightsaber community. We went on the hunt for the ultimate Star Wars lightsabers in 2016, and while modern lightsaber props have incredible light, sound, and detailing, the basics haven’t changed in years: you generally choose between a glorified flashlight with a telescopic toy knife that can actually fit into a handle, or more commonly nowadays, a rigid LED-filled tube that you have to remove and store when you want to hang your saber on a belt.
Now Disney may have made the evenly lit, vanishing lightsaber blade of our dreams full-size. Minus the whole section “cutting objects in half with an energy beam”, of course. I just wonder if it will be a prop for Disneyland actors, or the latest incredible toy that I can’t really afford.