This week has been a very special week for the film industry worldwide. With the 88th annual Oscars hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this past Sunday, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s legendary best actor win for his role in The Revenant, the industry has been pretty busy. Unfortunately for me, the Academy has made it almost impossible to see how they do all of their virtual reality production, starting from the Red Carpet and ending with the announcing of the film of the year, so I decided to further explore the VR potential in film.
As explained in one of my previous articles, the world of virtual reality is mobilizing and finding its way into the hands of ordinary people — people who enjoy movies, books, music, or all of the above. During the Academy awards, some words about bringing movies to VR systems have been tossed back and forth. CNN has even released an article or two this week explaining the advances in film-watching with VR. At first, I thought to myself, “No way, the moviegoing experience is a special thing as a whole. The experiences starting from the ticket purchase to the plot debate afterward are all sacred.” It turns out I may be wrong.
If you saw the Oscars in its entirety, you may have noticed the commercials. At least three different companies have had a commercial involving VR and movies coming together. Furthermore, these commercials were repeated, annoyingly enough, multiple times in between nominations. One of the commercials involves Samsung’s new phone. Apparently customers that purchase the new Galaxy S7 early will also receive the Gear VR from Oculus. It appears that companies are beginning to transition into the VR realm in order to attract customers. What could this mean for movie theaters? I personally cannot come to a conclusion. My best guess is, in the future, movie theaters will involve less sitting and watching and more VR usage, as discussed by CNN Entertainment.
Judging from my personal use of VR devices, I cannot see a world where the current devices can replace the sensation of physically going to a movie and seeing the talent of the studio creating the movie frame by frame on a big screen. But that’s the thing, discussing current VR experiences is short-sighted. I am the first person to advocate that innovation is always possible, if not inevitable. At this rate, it would seem that anything is possible and a world where VR usage replaces wide theater screens may not be so crazy.
As ticket sales are flattening and streaming services such as Netflix are flourishing, it may be time for movie theaters to try new ideas. There is technology out there that is learning how to bring the experience of moviegoing to the household, or rather, to the actual face of the consumer. Unless companies like AMC or Cinemark find a way to replicate VR or invest in the industry, more and more movie theaters may become obsolete.
