Disney inventor named in Fast Company’s most creative list

Dubbed “Disney’s scientific genius” by Dazed Digital, Russian-born inventor Ivan Poupyrev, who is best known for his singing orchids, has been named the 15th most creative person in business by Fast Company. Poupyrev, who works as a senior research scientist at Disney Research, made it to the list of 100 for his work on Touche, a sensory technology that has the ability to make any surface responsive to touch.

The result are orchids that sing when their stems are stroked and doorknobs that open at a single touch. If Disney has its way, the technology may be used to make its amusement parks completely interactive. Poupyrev said: “My long-term vision is making the entire world interactive.” The son of a Russian mathematician, Poupyrev left home several years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before settling in the US, he lived in Japan, where he worked for Sony for eight years.