The most sophisticated audio-video playback system in the world is not located in New York or Hollywood. It's in Florida, just south of Orlando, at the new EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) Center at Walt Disney World. Visitors to the 260-acre complex are constantly bombarded by sound and images – from soaring pseudo-Korngold movie music, to the bloops and bleeps of a "How-it-Works" computer show; from full-color 3-D movies, to a stair-climbing Audio-Animatronics figure of Ben Franklin. But the assault on the senses here is very different from the random cacophony of a typical amusement park. Instead, everything the visitor sees and hears is carefully predetermined and controlled by a large network of computers called EPCOT Central, located in a building in the Future World section of the park known as Communicore East. There are 16 major structures at EPCOT (with several more planned for the near future), divided into two areas: Future World, whose buildings cluster around a small area close to the entrance gate, and World Showcase, which surrounds a 40-acre lagoon. Each of the buildings contains from one to several dozen audio /visual presentations, which range in complexity from simple audio playback systems, to elaborate multimedia theatrical events. Program Sources It doesn't take long before the visitor realizes that very little of the entertainment to be had here is live – everything, from the "actors" at American Adventure, to the bird calls at Canada, is canned. But what a can it is. At the heart of this audio video extravaganza is a custom mainframe computer made by Sperry. The computer is surrounded by, and controls, literally hundreds of video and audio playback units at EPCOT Central, while its electronic tentacles reach out to control dozens more devices spread out around the grounds. There is an astounding amount of program material stored on various media at EPCOT Central. (Although there is a Neve- and Ampex-equipped production studio in place at the nearby Magic Kingdom, all of EPCOT's program material was produced elsewhere, as detailed in an accompanying sidebar.) There are 22 channels of background music, each emanating from its own L.J. Scully 14-inch playback deck, and routed to speakers concealed in the grounds, trees, and buildings via a 70-volt distribution system. Each area of the park has its own background music – 30 minutes of it – which was composed and recorded expressly for this application. […]
