ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,259,542, issued on March 25, was assigned to DISNEY ENTERPRISES INC. (Burbank, Calif.).
"Optical viewfinder for costume heads" was invented by Quinn Y. Smithwick (Pasadena, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A head for a walk-around costume is provided that is adapted for enhanced visibility. The costume head includes an outer shell defining an interior space for receiving a head of a human performer. The outer shell includes an aperture allowing incoming light from an exterior space to enter the interior space, and an eye location for the human performer is spaced apart from the aperture when the head is received in the interior spa...