Sometimes clever filmmakers can subtly arouse our sensory perceptions, but such subtlety could hardly be applied to the techniques of 4DX, the latest cinematic innovation.
4DX technology promises to enhance our ‘feel’ of the cinema experience and excite our senses like never before.
Pioneered in South Korea since 2009, the first UK 4DX theatre just opened in Milton Keynes.
Using a range of mechanisms, 4DX extends standard 3D to enrich the audience’s ‘physical’ sense of the action.
At key moments cinema seats vibrate or rock, the auditorium clouds over with fog and aromas waft into the room.
During an embellished screening of Kingsman: The Secret Service, 4DX recently debuted by dousing viewers with water, punching them in the ribs and tickling them in sensitive places.
Very clever. But could this interactive experience be too intrusive?
During a screening of Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), for instance, could one feel one’s feet being nibbled?
Or watching Scorsese’s boxing classic Raging Bull (1980), could one feel somewhat smacked around the kisser?
And if you saw Fifty Shades of Grey in 4DX, could you feel prodded in ways that aren’t necessarily welcome? 4DX might give new meaning to the phrase: “I nearly jumped out of my seat.”
