D-Box seat-shaker gets Fast & Furious debut

Men sit in cars and drive around, seats wobble, cinema-goers spill drinks
Men sit in cars and drive around, seats wobble, cinema-goers spill drinks

Hold on to your popcorn - a new technology is hoping to shake up cinema as we know it.

D-Box Motion Code is a motion-generating system that wobbles and shakes cinema seats to accompany Hollywood movies.

According to the system's inventor, D-Box Technologies, Motion Code is "perfectly synchronised with all onscreen action, creating an unmatched realistic, immersive experience."

D-BOX Motion Codes are specifically programmed for each film, TV programme or video game, and sent to a motion-generating system within either a platform or a seat. It's already available on around 850 video titles.

Diesel powered

The first cinematic release to 'benefit' from the D-Box experience is Fast & Furious, the fourth episode in the tyre-squealing, teen-pleasuring car chase movie series. The film promises to reunite Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, whose careers have stalled since starring in the original installment.

It's not exactly a nationwide roll-out for D-Box, however, which will be available at just two cinemas: the Mann Chinese 6 in Hollywood, California, and UltraStar Surprise Pointe 14 in Surprise, AZ.

Additionally, a D-BOX demonstration kiosk will be installed in each theatre's lobby prior to the release Fast & Furious release, in an attempt to drum up some custom.

There might be something in it - we can hear the sound of a massive car crash from here.

Mark Harris is Senior Research Director at Gartner.