As if by magic

Lanny Smoot: In my earliest memory, my dad brought home a battery, a bell, some wire, and he got the bell to ring, and the light lit up, and he's wiring this on a tabletop. And I was like, what is this? My mind just, I, I have to do this!
  
Lauren Emanuel: From that point on, Lanny Smoot was determined to make inventing a permanent part of his life. With his father as inspiration, Smoot learned all he could about science and engineering, and he was eventually singled out by Columbia University for a full scholarship and a job at Bell Labs—a famous information technology and communications research company—as an engineer upon graduation. 

Now a Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer with over 100 patents, Smoot calls inventing “an experience that's top of his life loves,” proving that his passion for innovation remains strong. 

I’m Lauren Emanuel from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. I recently spoke to Smoot about his remarkable career. We discussed recent projects and some of his favorite patents—including his first.  

Lauren Emanuel:  That specific invention—as fun as it would be—has yet to gain traction. However, Smoot’s been able to integrate omnidirectional elements in other projects.

Lanny Smoot: I'll start by saying I was a fan of the television series “Star Trek” when I was a kid. And they have a wonderful room called a holodeck that you can walk into, and you can be anywhere in the universe. And the visual part of it, we kind of have ways of doing it with virtual reality glasses, et cetera. But if anyone has ever worn virtual reality glasses at home, you walk around, all you do is trip on the furniture, right? So, what if you could go into a room and you and everyone else in the room is able to walk in any direction they want and independently have their own virtual view of the world. So, you're in a room, you're walking around. You think you're on the streets of Paris. I'm in that same room, and I think I'm walking around on the surface of Mars. How can that possibly be? 

I must have some sort of floor that allows everyone to walk on it in an unlimited way and not hit anyone else on the floor. So imagine a floor, the entire floor, being an omnidirectional treadmill. As I am in one part of it, my part of the floor will either move me along—it sort of looks magical when this is operating—or if I take steps on the floor, the floor can hold me in the same place. It's sort of moving under me.

Lauren Emanuel: I'm sensing that overlap, right? Like another unique experience. You're in the same, same spot as other people.

Lanny Smoot: I think, you know, I think inventors are kind of like that. We run in, we run in some grooves that I want everyone to have the most freedom when they're viewing, hearing, walking, et cetera. Just yesterday, I mentored at an organization for young kids that we want to become more interested in careers in the engineering and sciences fields. I do a lot of that. I think it's super important.

Lanny Smoot: I started the collective effort management development program (CEMDP). When I joined Bell Labs, there weren't many African-American engineers at the company, but we realized something, which was that we were embedded in different parts of the company. Some of us were in military research. Some of us were in telecommunication. Some were doing different things. And collectively, we knew a lot about the company, and I thought it would be really cool if we gave a series of technical talks to each other. So each week, one of us would talk about what we were doing in a specific area. And I think our managers were surprised when, you know, Lanny, how did you know how, you know, how well we're doing in another part of the company? Or how did you bring that technology into our organization and make it better? 

It's because I had that sort of leg up of our network of engineers that could share information very broadly, even between locations. Bell Labs was located in several places in New Jersey prominently. And we were able to share information from all of those locations, and each of us knew everything that all of us knew.

Lauren Emanuel: I think that's a good model for anywhere. Knowledge sharing amongst teams to make sure everyone knows what's going on.

Lanny Smoot: Exactly. We don't do enough of it. And now we have better tools, so no excuse for it. 

Lauren Emanuel: So, let's talk about what it was like for you growing up and getting started on this path.

Lanny Smoot: I grew up in Brooklyn, New York which is, uh, was a tough neighborhood then, still kinda tough, not a lot of money. My parents did not make a lot of money. They loved me dearly, but couldn't really help me in school and that sort of thing. But my dad started me off, absolutely, in the entire career that I've had to date. He could fix everything, including televisions, without specific training and just all sorts of things. In my earliest memory, my dad brought home a battery, a bell, some wire, and he got the bell to ring, and the light lit up, and he's wiring this on a tabletop. And I was like, what is this? My mind just, I, I have to do this!

Lanny Smoot: So, it started me on a career of doing every science fair possible, going to the right schools. I wound up going to Brooklyn Tech for high school, wound up getting scholarships, a full ride to Columbia University, all because of the start that I got there and watching “Star Trek” and other things just to get inspiration.

My father was a wonderful guy. My mother was, too, but he was the technologist. She was the nurturer and the person who said, “Whatever you want to do, be happy.” When I was a kid, he was certainly the master, and I was the learner, and I loved it. By the time I was a young teenager, I had more scholastic input. I studied more. I knew how electronics worked. So, things that he would be doing by experience and some luck, I could say, "Dad, it's the resistor here that's failed." I have to give my father such credit. As soon as he knew that I knew this stuff, he was like, “You're on your way.” 

Lanny Smoot: We always need to be aware of the opportunities that we have. And one of the things I try to do, as an African-American engineer, is to make sure that young kids that were like me, that were smart and capable, but just unaware of the things that they could be doing and the folks that can help them and make them more aware of that.

Success in life, I think, is being prepared for opportunities. And I thank the people who made me aware of those opportunities in life that allow me to have 102 patents* and have invented a lot of stuff. 

Lauren Emanuel: So we are the Patent and Trademark office, so we need to talk a little bit about intellectual property. Why do you think it's been so important for you to receive patents for your inventions?

Lanny Smoot: Well, it's been important for me and for my companies. I will tell you most people think a patent is a right to do something. It's actually a right to stop other people from doing what you are doing. I'll go back to Bell. When I designed that optical receiver, at the time, that was the thing that allowed fiber optic transmission. Other companies were trying to compete with the Bell system, coming up with different products, et cetera, but we had the most sensitive optical receiver. One that could withstand the most optical power, was immune to optical overload, the most robust one. And we want to protect the right for the Bell system to make this as opposed to a competitor. So a patent has a competitive advantage. 

Lanny Smoot: Now, if you work for companies, you do assign the patents to the company and they protect that intellectual property. And also, they can extend your ability to see your dream. Some of the things I've invented would cost a lot of money to bring to pass. And companies can take those ideas, build them large, larger than a single person, and you get to see that dream come true. I always joke, you know, is it invention for fun and profit? For a person who's at a corporation, it's mostly for fun, but the profit is that you are well-respected, that you know the company's moving forward, and they reward you financially for bringing that intellectual property to them.

So patents protect you against having someone else take an idea that you've spent time to develop and them developing it and selling it. 

Lauren Emanuel: Applying for and receiving a patent is a critical step in the innovation process, but it all begins with something else: an idea. 
 
Smoot shared that he’s constantly coming up with new ideas so that when inspiration strikes, he’s ready to bring his best ones to life. 

Lanny Smoot: I am a hands-on engineer. What I find is one idea leads to another idea, leads to a better one, et cetera. I have notebooks right next to me right now that I'm always scribbling in. I try to think about how I would solve that new question myself, and I'll jot down a bunch of ideas. Then, I'll kind of cheat and say, “Well, let's see how other people have done it.” And so I'm already familiar with the thought process that would be required to solve the problem.

I might see other people trying it to solve it unsuccessfully, but now I know what doesn't work. Then I'd say my ideas are unique enough that I want to push. I have a whole thought process on this. First of all, people say, "Oh, that was so simple. I could have invented it." Then I say, "Why didn't you? Why didn't you stop and think and develop it and do it?” A good idea, a really patentable idea, should sound almost obvious to the person who reads it.

But a lot of people don't take the time to look at a problem and see how you could make it better, how you could fix that problem, how you could solve it. Once I'm really into it, I do dig deeply to make sure that I understand the entire area of science around it. Then, I go to work.

Lanny Smoot: I have two labs. I have a lab at home, which is pretty much the whole house, and I have a lab at work. The place becomes a total wreck. I'm pulling things apart. I have bins of parts that I know that I will need. But the thing in the middle is like gleaming. You know, it's the thing that's coming out of all of this chaos. I’m excited, I take a breath, and I clean up. 

I’ve never liked the term tinkering. I already expect the thing that I'd been thinking through quite a bit and studied is going to work. And nine times out of 10, it works the way I think, which is pretty good, I think. The one time it doesn't, I totally learn. It's like, oh, I missed something here. That can lead to another invention. Like, huh. It didn't work. Wow. I'm, I'm not disappoint—I am disappointed because I wanted it to work—but that, that's the challenge then like, why? Oh, you know, I see, this is what I was missing. That's a new idea. 

Invention sort of bounces around. And I also think that a solution in one field often has an analogous invention in another field. So something that works in electricity might work in water power. In terms of water flows in pipes, it's like electricity in wires. And so I think inventors see the connection and similarity between different areas and different problems.

We continue to improve the world with the union of science, technology and, with Disney, art. I'll give you an example. There is an attraction called Where's the Fire. It was where you used flashlights to see through walls to find new things. My version of it looked very rough. You know, it was on lab benches and cameras hanging out and optical stuff. I now get to work with very talented creative people who say, “Uh, it works. We'll make it look good. We'll make it so that people want to touch it. That looks like I'll be electrocuted if I, if I do that.” 

Lanny Smoot: I just want to put in a little plug for Disney, which is that not only does the company support invention—and we do real science, our research is right up there with the research of any of the other big tech companies—but we have that one advantage, which is that we have creative people, artists, modelers, sculptors, architects, who can take that technology, wrap it in a world of wonder and beauty and make an attraction.

Lauren Emanuel: That's actually a really good segue to “Behind the Attraction,” the show on Disney+ where you're in a few episodes. You emphasized how, you know, it's hard to make things better while protecting what people love about an attraction.

Lanny Smoot: I mean, you know, Disney is a multi-generational family affair. Lots of people who are now getting older were taken to the parks when they were kids. And those people who are now adults say, “I want to see the Haunted Mansion looking pretty much like I remember it as a kid so I can share that exact experience with my child that I'm taking to the parks today.” So, we did a little bit of a revamp on some of the technology in the Haunted Mansion, but we had to use that technology in service of making the old dream the same, but just better and a little bit easier to maintain. We sometimes work really hard to make something look old. If you're in the Haunted Mansion, nothing should take you out of that old world sort of creepy feeling.

Lauren Emanuel: So, looking back on all of—on the impact—of your inventions, what would you say you're most proud of?

Lanny Smoot: You know, it's almost like talking about what is the most, what child, do you like the most? If I talk about impact, I think the video-on-demand work, and some of those things I did at Bell, just because they are outward-facing into the world. The video window teleconferencing system became the model for the way we do video communications nowadays. Providing people the ability to have a streaming video, I think was really important. 

The work that I'm doing in that holodeck, I think is really super important. And, some fun things. I don't know if you've seen Disney's new lightsaber. We have the best, most realistic extendable and retractable lightsaber, and that's one of my patents along with other people who worked on it. Just realizing that, you know, you can be part of a Star Wars lore to some extent I think is really cool. I've also made it possible for you to battle against a training droid, so that you can be a Star Wars character, where the droid is trying to blast you and you can actually fend off laser blasts just like Luke Skywalker did. And that will be in the Star Cruiser experience coming to Disney World.

Lauren Emanuel: What would you tell other innovators? What does it take to be an inventor? And what advice would you give them?

Lanny Smoot: Inventing takes curiosity, the desire to see something that's in your mind emerge into the world, and a certain amount of something I haven't mentioned earlier is confidence and bravery. When you come up with something that's new, some people will understand it and get it. Other people will say, “I'm not sure if I understand what you're saying,” or “Do we really need that?” But if you're a new inventor, you may not have enough confidence to stick with it. Be brave, be courageous. 

You know, the Wright brothers, people said heavier than air, you know, vehicles flying. It's just not going to happen. When they started, they knew that they were going to build an airplane. They knew that they were going to do it. And they knew that it would work. Their confidence through thick and thin carried them along. Practice what you love. I was lucky enough to find it early. But as soon as you latch onto something you love, do it, and do it a lot. 

Lauren Emanuel: Smoot’s story is a powerful example of what can happen when you are able to do something you love. Inspired to invent as a child, Smoot’s innate curiosity and desire to learn—combined with his enthusiasm, dedication, and talented colleagues—has led to over 100 patents in multiple fields, from electronics and optics to motors and machinery.  
 
Smoot’s story is also a reminder that we often achieve success through the help of others. As Smoot’s father and guidance counselor proved, you never know when a life-changing opportunity will come your way—but you have to be prepared to take it. And every now and then, we might become that opportunity for someone else. 
 
From the USPTO, thanks for listening. 

Join us for a live conversation with Lanny Smoot at 2 p.m. ET on February 17 during the 2022 Black Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, part one: Defining tomorrow.