Movie theater ups the ante with 4D capability

For those who have paid a visit to the Universal Studios theme park would most probably have experienced a movie-themed ride that involved not only 3D movie viewing, but also blows of air and splashes of water for that added effect – hence the forth dimension. This latest technology seems to be making its way to movie theaters as well, in the form of movie seats that will rumble and shake according to the action that is happening on screen in real-time.

Currently, 50 theaters in the US are running trials of D-Box’s shaking seats, which is more or less a more advanced version of force feedback whenever you play a video game – albeit your entire back and butt will be the ones experiencing all the rumbling.

Each seat comes with a trio of motors within, and when it is synchronized to a movie, any scenes that call for a vibration where necessary will do so, which means D-Box’s engineers have to go through all the movies associated with it frame-by-frame for a tailored experience. Now that’s dedication, and the Fast and the Furious 5 alone took a whopping 600 hours to program. Just how much more are you willing to pay for a 4D experience in the cinema?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets, Photo-Video
Tags: cinema