Is The Future Of Cinema Fully Immersive And Multi-Sensory? - Forbes

The VR Voyager Motion Chair from LA-based Positron is ushering successful a new, afloat immersive mode to acquisition films, spectacular locations, and experiences.

What Is The Positron VR Motion Chair

Positron’s VR Voyager Motion Chair combines cutting borderline exertion from antithetic fields. It...

· Has unlimited 360-degree rotation and 47-degree vertical guardant and backwards tilt

· Spins, swivels, and releases up to 6 antithetic scents successful a film

· Has haptic pillows that supply afloat immersive audio, and sensations similar the feelings of wind, oregon cars whizzing by

· Has customizable LED temper lighting successful each pod and tethered 4K VR headsets

· Has been tested against question sickness and claims to beryllium “barf-proof”

· Is disinfected aft each screening, for sanitation

Positron is pioneering VR Cinema with afloat immersive, archetypal contented films connected topics ranging from King Tut’s tomb, to perfume, to climbing El Capitan successful Yosemite National Park. Films scope from 5 to 37 minutes long, and the mean summons terms is $20. The eclectic premix of venues mean 20-25 chairs each. Current locations see San Francisco de Young Museum, Melbourne Australia, Milan Italy, Toronto, Canada, Los Angeles, California, and the Yosemite Cinema successful Oakhurst, California. Yosemite Cinema, with its 16 Positron Voyager question pods, became archetypal imperishable XR cinema successful North America. Other locations are expected to see museums, tourer attractions, cruise ships, malls, repurposed warehouses, retail spaces, and movie theaters. The institution expects to beryllium successful 20 cities by precocious 2023.

Cross-Disciplinary Innovation

Founder and CEO Jeffrey Travis combined his method cognition arsenic a biomedical technologist who designed question platforms for simulators, with his film-making abilities. Travis antecedently directed films, animation shorts, TV, and commercials. He saw an accidental to heighten large storytelling and contented with multi-sensory VR experiences. Having worked arsenic an SVP astatine Disney, I cognize however captious large storytelling is to the occurrence of a film. Gimmicky exertion alone, won’t chopped it.

Highly Unique Content

Oscar winning, Indian euphony composer, singer, songwriter, producer, director, A. R. Rahman, with enactment from Intel and others, created the 37-minute VR film, Le Musk, astir perfume, to beryllium shown successful the Positron chairs, with motion, music, and scent integrated into the storyline. It was changeable connected 14 antithetic cameras and enhanced by 10 ocular FX houses. Le Musk premiered astatine the Cannes XR programme successful May 2022 and is presently being shown successful 2 Positron XR Cinemas, 1 successful Los Angeles and 1 successful Toronto.

Other Positron films see multi-sensory, “in existent life” feelings of being connected apical of Machu Picchu successful Peru, climbing Mount Everest, and a 17-minute Yosemite Experience narrated by Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad. According to Yosemite Cinema proprietor Matt Sconce: “You tin acquisition hiking Mount Everest, flying done Yosemite, and climbing El Capitan… Things you can’t bash successful the existent satellite due to the fact that of information and cost. Here you tin person those adventures without leaving the cinema. Visitors to Yosemite acquisition angles and heights they can’t spot connected a mean visit. They odor the conifer trees and campfire, arsenic Teddy Roosevelt talks to John Muir and spot the cave paintings arsenic they alert done the vale with the mist and waterfalls.”

They developed the abbreviated movie Myth: A Frozen Tale from Disney, and The Secrets of Tutankhamun, a 12-minute immersive VR travel that takes viewers person than ever earlier to the past tomb, artifacts and mysteries of King Tut.

To promote maturation and innovation successful VR filmmaking, Positron established the Positron Visionary Award successful concern with the Cannes Film Festival, wherever VR movie makers person awards for Excellence successful Cinematic VR.

The Business Model and Economics

Positron leases its VR theaters successful concern with premium venues that person established ft traffic, successful speech for a percent of summons sales. They nutrient archetypal documentary and communicative movie contented for the chairs, and licence and administer it. No location viewing chairs are disposable yet, but astir apt volition beryllium successful the future. In September 2020, the institution launched an IP licensing programme that allows spouse companies to usage the patents, designs, and the bundle to manufacture and merchantability their ain customized VR chairs. An important spouse is Taiwanese company, Brogent, that operates on-location immersive VR amusement experiences each implicit the satellite and tin assistance Positron grow globally and peculiarly passim Asia.

The afloat equipped pods outgo astir $50,000 each. At $20 per ticket, assuming an mean of 20 viewings per day, 7 days a week, breakeven would hap aft 18 months, not including existent property abstraction costs. If the chairs instrumentality off, economies of standard could footwear in, lowering the costs.

Why It’s A Unique VR Pioneer Worth Watching

Positron merits keeping an oculus connected for respective reasons:

· It’s a large illustration of cross-disciplinary innovation and collaboration

· It demonstrates however important storytelling is to technology, and however exertion tin marque storytelling much engaging, immersive, memorable, and intensely experienced

· It’s wherever the Metaverse is going and the institution is mode up of the curve. Beyond conscionable a 3D ocular experience, it’s multi-sensory, with movement, scent, and intensely exhilarating feelings

The question volition beryllium however rapidly they tin scale, and if the economics volition let it to bash truthful quickly. The mean $20 dollar summons terms seems reasonable, and they person a important caput commencement connected combining each the indispensable technologies with a pipeline of award-winning VR contented they person the rights for. The prime contented and venue partners are large for gaining affirmative influencer advocacy an aboriginal adopter connection of mouth.

Special acknowledgment to Rithik Puli, my probe assistant, for his assistance researching Positron.