My brain hates first-person games, so most of the stuff I’ve read and seen about the Oculus Rift don’t really interest me. But I’d be willing to buy the Rift just for Joo-Hyung Ahn’s VR Cinema 3D. It’s an app for the Rift that lets you watch videos in 3D while you’re inside a virtual movie theater.
As Ben Kuchera described at the Penny-Arcade Report, VR Cinema 3D doesn’t just let you watch videos on an enormous 3D screen. It lets you move around the theater. You can change seats and perhaps even faff about, fall asleep and ignore the movie altogether. The way Kuchera describes it, Joo Hyung-An seems to have captured the perspective of being in a cinema so well: your perspective of the screen changes accordingly when you move around, and the theater is believably dark and spacious. It’s a happy place for introverts and claustrophobes.
Those of you who have a development unit of the Rift can use VR Cinema 3D for free. Head to Joo Hyung-An’s website and click on the ‘Projects’ header to see the download link.
[via The PA Report via Movies]
The CinemaCon crowd may not have been keen on 48fps footage of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but we defy anyone to say they don't want the best sound possible. A select few will get just that, as Dolby and Peter Jackson's own Park Road Post Production have announced the film will be mixed for the speaker-packed Atmos technology. If you're lucky enough to live near one of the select establishments it's installed in, we doubt you'll be grumbling about the immersive audio, even if the frame rate makes those orcs look unsettlingly real.
Update: That link of "select establishments" is somewhat out of date and, although the official list of locations you'll be able to see The Hobbit in Atmos has yet to be released, Dolby says there should be between 80 and 100 screens capable of delivering the over-the-top audio experience by the film's debut.
Continue reading The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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While MoviePass was in early beta, it got more than a small amount of pushback from theaters that didn't like someone changing the price formula without their explicit say-so. The company just found an end-run around that conspicuous obstacle. It's releasing both an iPhone app and a reloadable card that, when combined, let MoviePass' effectively unlimited subscription model work at just about any US theater. The app unlocks the card for a specific showing; after that, it's only a matter of swiping the plastic at a payment kiosk like any old credit card. It's not as sophisticated as NFC or Pay With Square, to be sure, but it should keep the rude surprises to a minimum. Both the iOS app and the card require an invitation to the $30 monthly service if you're eager to get watching movies today. If either is too limiting, there's promises of both an Android app and wider availability in the future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, HD
MoviePass launches iPhone app and card combo, takes unlimited viewing to all US theaters originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MoviePass | Email this | Comments If you have a Bruce Wayne sized bank account, you may want to turn your man cave into a bat cave like this Dark Knight home theater. You see that bookcase on the left? It slides out to reveal a Tumbler behind it. How cool is that?
There’s also a spare bat-suit or two for that imminent change into character, several seats for all of your bat friends and all of the controls are in back. The stalagmites on the ceiling are a nice touch. This setup is so good that you expect to see some actual bats flying around inside.
Those seats look mighty comfy too. Just sit down, set up the movie, have Alfred bring you some popcorn and watch your favorite Batman flick.
[via Geekologie]
If you're a European jealous of those of us stateside when you first read that we had fourteen theaters featuring Dolby's new end-to-end revolution in surround sound, Atmos, then maybe this news will give you solace. Starting today the new technology will be demoed at CineEurope at both Dolby's booth as well as at the Cinesa Diagonal Mar Screen 9 theater in Barcelona. No word on when you'll actually be able to take in Disney's Brave in said format, but the Mar Screen 9 will be joined at the Atmos party by a number of other theaters in Europe in the coming months, like the Empire Leicester Square in London. Want to know more? Well, check out the full press release after the break.
Continue reading Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona's CineEurope 2012
Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona's CineEurope 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you want to be among the first to experience Dolby's new Atmos surround sound experience, the company has released a list of 14 theaters that will have it up and running in time to show the first movie with the technology. Disney / Pixar's Brave hits the screens June 22nd and thanks to the Atmos setup is ready to direct sound to listener's ears from as many as 64 speaker feeds and 128 simultaneous inputs, combining with 3D visuals to increase viewer immersion. Not sold yet? Check out a few instructional videos about intelligent surround sound, and why 13.1 channels just wouldn't have been enough, plus of course, the list of all fourteen theaters.
Dolby confirms 14 theaters for inaugural screening of Pixar's 'Brave' with Atmos audio originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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