Ticket To Ride

Fasten your seat belts, put on your headsets and enjoy the show. A night out at the movies--say, 10 or 20 years from now--could be an experience to flood the senses. Visual images are already going 3-D and digital sound is becoming the norm. In tomorrow’s movie theater, images will be further enhanced, possibly using motion, smell and touch.

Some movie-watching gimmicks have failed in the past, but with rapidly advancing technology, anything is possible. Theater technology experts don’t all agree that amenities like motion-base seating will become mainstream. But they do agree that total immersion of the senses is the direction in which theaters are moving.

Iwerks in Burbank and Showscan Entertainment in Culver City are already using tomorrow’s theater technology on their large-format screens and motion-simulator rides. “We’re using technology to enhance entertainment...The future theater will provice an immersive storyline that leaves a lasting impression,” said Showscan’s Michael Ellis, vice president of engineering and product development.

As movie-making enters its second century, moviegoers will demand more for their entertainment dollar. Theaters are utlizing such forward-thinking features as stadium seating and high-impact sound. “The theater of the future will have to do more than just show a movie,” predicted John Neal, senior vice president of entertainment technologies for United Artists Theatre Circuit, Inc. “People want to immerse themselve. The movie experience creates an escape...What we do in the future depends on how you want to escape.”

Going to the Show

Entertainment Complex

Movie theaers of the future will be the anchoring venue of self-contained entertainment complexes. Here is what you might find at the entertainment complex of the future:

* Virtual reality games

* Pre-movie motion simulator rides, some in the form of trailers for upcoming films

* Restaurants and shops

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Ticketless Box Office

Moviegoers of the future might use debit cards to purchase entrance to a theater, or put an order in ahead of time by computer on the Internet.

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Getting Around

People-mover trams might transport moviegoers around the entertainment complex.

Concessions

There will be a variety of food and drink, with an emphasis on health. Instead of cash, coupons might be purchased in advance.

In the Theater

Enhanced Sound

Sound is the key to the immersive experience in tomorrow’s theater. At least eight digitally discrete (distinct) channels surround the moviegoer. On-screen background sound could be manipulated to come out of any of the 50 to 100 speakers surrounding the theater.

Projection

Fisheye lens provides an undistorted image on the domed screen. Projector elevates from floor until lens is on same plane as screen. Image is projected from floor to ceiling, completely covering dome.

High-Tech Projection

At some point in the future, film and projectors might become obsolete. Movies might be transmitted from Hollywood to theaters around the country via satellite, or digitally transmitted via fiber-optic telephone lines.

Dome Holes

Dome screen is perforated vinyl. Speakers are placed behind screen and the tiny holes allow sound to pass through. This allows for directional sound, which gives the impression that sound is coming directly from actor or scene on screen.

Room to Move

There will be up to 50 inches of space between rows--10 inches more than the current industry standard.

Stadium Seating

Steeply sloped auditorium seating will allow unobstructed views from every seat. Future theaters will seat 300 to 500.

Have a Seat

The movie seat of the future will be more than just a place to park yourself and rest your soft drink. A “motion base” seat will allow the moviegoer to experience movement on screen as it happens, in six distinct directions.

Seating in Comfort

Seats will be comfortable as well as entertaining. Lumbar support will be built in for back comfort. Head rests are padded.

Hydraulic Power

Seat movement is powered by a hydraulic pump unit in back of the theater. Through actuators in the seat base, the pump provides about 1,000 pounds per square inch of pressure to the seat bases. The movement of seats won’t be as severe as some of today’s motion-base seating, which can move up to 18 inches. The maximum distance a theater seat will move in any direction will be about four inches.

3-D Headsets

Viewers might wear cordless headsets with liquid-crystal lenses. Speakers in each side of the headset help to provide a more personal sound environment.

Windy Conditions

Built-in fans would simulate wind and circulate air.

Synchronized Motion

* Heave: Up and down motion (free fall on-screen).

* Surge: Forward and back motion toward the screen.

* Sway: Side to side motion parallel to the screen.

* Pitch: Tips up and down (going up a hill).

* Yaw: Rotates side to side (spinning sideways in a car).

* Roll: Banks left or right (plane making a hard turn).

Sources: Iwerks; Showscan; AMC Entertainment Inc.; National Film Service Inc.; Digital Theater Systems; Pacific Theatres; United Artists Theatre Circuit Inc.; Researched by JULIE SHEER and MARK HAFER