Off-screen cinema subtitles

Readers who are keeping up to date with subtitling solutions and projects might be pleased to know that the former Indiegogo project for a subtitling solution for cinemas is a project now being developed by GeoJaX Ltd and Mystery Technology LLP.

Entrepreneur George Georgiou and inventor Jack Ezra have teamed up to form “GioJaX Ltd” and “Mystery Technology LLP”, which will develop an “Off-Screen Cinema Subtitle System” for the deaf and hard of hearing”. The development work will be carried out in Sri Lanka, China & the UK over the coming months with a fully working system hopefully, being tested in October/ November 2013. The Off-Screen Cinema Subtitle System uses a special display under the movie screen which is invisible to the general audience until you wear special light-weight glasses and then the subtitles are viewable to anyone in the audience wishing to see them.

I was lucky enough to be shown a prototype of the technology last week. Already built as a demo on a laptop I was shown what appeared to be a blank screen. However as soon as I put on a standard pair of 3D glasses (the same kind worn for 3D movies at the cinema now) I could see letters, and numbers displayed across the screen. It was great to see a real working example of the technology I had heard being described as a potential way of displaying subtitles at the cinema that are only viewable to those that wish it. It is the closest experience I have had of using different technology than that of open captions but still gives the same feel as using open captions or switching on the subtitles on the television or on a DVD. The text was easy to read and the glasses comfortable to wear. The next step will be for the company to build a fully working system example and get feedback. I for one will be keeping an eye on the progress with this project. And I am not the only one – industry professionals such as Regal in the USA, and in the UK, the Cinema Exhibitors Association and Cineworld, have offered their help to the new venture in the form of feedback, testing and promotion of the technology.