Lidar, which stands for “light detection and ranging”, is not unlike sonar or radar, where sensors send out energy pulses and times their responses to judge distance. Audience reports from those attending tapings heard Vanna and Pat talk about the board using Lidar technology to track where Vanna presses on the massive screen without needing touch actuators placed on the display. Other tour groups who went after me noted the puzzle board back in action, with one significant difference: instead of being made up of multiple individual monitors, the puzzle board looked like one massive LED display: The set is basically permanent, and the wheel and the puzzle board rarely get put into storage. I noticed something peculiar when they showed off the Wheel of Fortune set: the puzzle board wasn’t there. A few weeks ago, I was in Los Angeles on vacation and took the Sony Pictures Studios tour.
