Films@ Future

 Japan, they say, is always fifty years ahead of the world. Some proof of this maxim is the futuristic films taking Japan literally by the storm. Yes, I am talking about the 4D Japanese films about which I read recently. 

Branded as 4DX or MX4D (and occasionally expanding into multi-screen formats like ULTRA 4DX), this technique of "showing" the film in cinema halls changes a standard movie into a physical, theme-park-style ride.

How is it managed? Well, the article I read about this sensational phenomenon says that the seats in such cinema halls  are motion-Controlled seats. That is to say, hydraulic seats tilt, pitch, roll, sway, and heave to match movement on screen, such as a tsunami like huge wave approaching the shore. 

Moreover, the seats in such specialised cinema halls deliver sudden thuds for explosions or punches, while small air jets or leg/back ticklers simulate bugs, whips, or physical brushes.

Environmental effects are managed through auditoriums deploying synchronized water sprays, heavy fog machines, strobes for lightning, wind fans, and scent generators as well.

Major chains like Toho Cinemas, 109 Cinemas, and Cinema Sunshine feature formats like 4DX and ULTRA 4DX (which combines motion seats with a 270-degree panoramic screen), said the article.

Lucky indeed are Japanese spectators because science n technolgy are there creatively harnessed to create entertainment that is truly experiential, and tickles all the senses as much as it may provide food for the mind!

Pratima@ i watched a YouTube video       exemplifying this technology. The feel was as visceral as the fear of the spectators who watched the Lumière brothers' early films. When our economy soon outshines the Japanese, hopefully, such unique mode of entertainment would reach us, too. 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic," says Arthur C. Clarke. 

Word of the day: futuristic                                        Futuristic means imagining what the future might be like, and hence very modern and unusual in appearance, as if belonging to the future instead of the present.