Systems and methods for show effects

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026034467-A1
Application number	US-202519279825-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 24, 2025
Priority date	Jul 26, 2024
Publication date	Feb 5, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods may include a balloon with a circuit integrated within a surface of the balloon and coupled to one or more components to generate a show effect. The components may include an actuator, a magnet, a sensor, a light-emitting diode, a speaker, and so on. The circuit and the one or more components may also be communicatively coupled to a control system configured to instruct generation of a show effect based on touch sensor data from the sensor. For example, the control system may instruct the actuator to adjust a position and/or an orientation of a portion of the balloon, the magnet to attract or repel from another magnet, the light-emitting diode to emit light, the speaker to emit a sound, or any combination thereof.

First claim

1 . A balloon comprising:
a sensor coupled to a surface of the balloon, wherein the sensor is configured to generate touch sensor data; and a show effect component configured to generate a show effect based on the touch sensor data.

2 . The balloon of claim 1 , wherein the touch sensor data is indicative of a location of a touch with respect to the balloon or a duration of the touch.

3 . The balloon of claim 1 , comprising a control system communicatively coupled to the sensor and the show effect component and configured to determine the show effect for generation based on the touch sensor data.

4 . The balloon of claim 3 , comprising a tether configured to couple the balloon to the control system.

5 . The balloon of claim 1 , wherein the balloon comprises a body formed by at least one conductive layer coupled to at least one nonconductive layer, and wherein the at least one conductive layer comprises metal traces forming at least a portion of a circuit.

6 . The balloon of claim 5 , wherein the sensor and the show effect component are coupled to the circuit.

7 . The balloon of claim 1 , comprising a power source configured to communicatively couple to the show effect component and configured to provide current to the show effect component to cause the show effect component to generate a magnetic field.

8 . The balloon of claim 7 , wherein the show effect component is configured to attract an additional component based on the magnetic field.

9 . The balloon of claim 7 , wherein the show effect component is configured to repel an additional component based on the power source providing the current to the show effect component.

10 . The balloon of claim 1 , wherein the show effect component comprises a light emitting diode configured to emit a light based on the touch sensor data, a speaker configured to emit a sound based on the touch sensor data, a magnet configured to attract or repel from another magnet based on the touch sensor data, or any combination thereof.

11 . A system comprising:
a balloon; a first show effect system coupled to the balloon, the first show effect system comprising:
a first body comprising a first circuit; and
a first magnet coupled to the first circuit; and
a second show effect system coupled to the balloon, the second show effect system comprising:
a second body comprising a second circuit; and
a second magnet coupled to the second circuit and configured to attract to or repel from the first magnet.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first magnet comprises a permanent magnet and the second magnet comprises an electromagnet.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the first show effect system comprises a first transceiver configured to receive first instructions from a control system and the second show effect system comprises a second transceiver configured to receive second instructions from the control system.

14 . The system of claim 11 , comprising a power source coupled to the first show effect system and the second show effect system, wherein the power source is configured to:
provide current to the second magnet to attract the first magnet to couple the first show effect system and the second show effect system; and stop providing the current to the second magnet to decouple the first show effect system from the second show effect system.

15 . The system of claim 11 , comprising a power source coupled to the first show effect system and the second show effect system, wherein the first magnet and the second magnet are electromagnets, and wherein the power source is configured to:
provide current to the first magnet to generate a first magnetic field having a first polarity; and provide current to the second magnet to generate a second magnetic field having a second polarity.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first polarity is different from the second polarity.

17 . A system comprising:
a balloon comprising:
a body comprising a circuit;
a sensor formed by at least a portion of the circuit and configured to generate touch sensor data; and
a show effect component communicatively coupled to the circuit; and
a control system communicatively coupled to the circuit and configured to instruct the show effect component to generate a show effect based on the touch sensor data.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the show effect component comprises a light emitting diode configured to emit a light based on the touch sensor data, a speaker configured to emit a sound based on the touch sensor data, a magnet configured to generate a magnetic field based on the touch sensor data, an actuator configured to adjust a position and/or an orientation of at least a portion of the body based on the touch sensor data, or any combination thereof.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the control system is configured to:
instruct the light emitting diode to emit the light for a first period of time based on the touch sensor data indicating that a duration of a touch is greater than a threshold period of time; and instruct the light emitting diode to emit the light for a second period of time based on the touch sensor data indicating that the duration of the touch is less than the threshold period of time.

20 . The system of claim 17 , comprising a power source coupled to the circuit and the control system, wherein the power source is configured to provide current to the show effect component and the sensor.

Assignees

• Universal City Studios Llc

Inventors

• Jeromin Aaron Chandler

Classifications

• G06F3/041

  Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means · CPC title

• A63H27/10 Primary

  Balloons (connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00; {other than toy aspects B64B1/40}) · CPC title

• A63J5/02

  Arrangements for making stage effects; Auxiliary stage appliances · CPC title