Close on the heels of 3-D movies making a comeback, the Galaxy movie theater in Carson City is introducing another dimension to some of its films: Motion.
The theater installed 28 seats in one auditorium last week that move with the images on the screen - when a car in a chase scene makes a right turn, the chair also tilts to the right, for example.
The technology is known as D-Box Motion Sensor, developed by a Toronto-based company of the same name that has unveiled its product in 21 North American theaters since last year and will debut in Carson City this Friday when a rebooted version of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" premieres.
"It's not a theme park ride ... people think it's like a Disney ride; in fact it's not," said Guy Marcux, the vice president of marketing for D-Box. "We're all about trying to replicate what you would feel in real life. We're all about the subtleties."
That means feeling the bumps as a car travels over a gravel road or the rumble of an explosion in the distance. The chairs also stay still during scenes with no relevant movement and the intensity of the movement can be dialed up or down with a control on the chair.
"We're more about immersing you in the movie," he said.
Clinton Leazer, the general manager of the theater in Carson City, said D-Box seats will include an $8 premium on general admission, or $17.50 for one adult to attend an evening showing. If the movie is also in 3-D there will be an additional $3 charge.
D-Box tickets can be reserved in advance, online and at the box office, which reserves a specific seat in the theater.
Leazer said the Galaxy theater in Carson City is the company's fifth location to get the seats. So far, about a dozen tickets have been sold.
"It is a huge investment," he said, adding the theater may add more or remove some seats depending on how they sell.
Marcux said D-Box, which did $4.5 million of business last year, got its start developing motion chairs for high-end home theater systems about 10 years ago.
Today, the company is developing its technology for mass consumption.
The company has so far worked on 15 movies, including "Terminator Salvation" and "Fast and Furious," and will debut one movie a month through 2010. The next in line is "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time," which premieres next month.
Marcux said it takes about 300 to 500 hours for engineers to sync the motion of the chairs to what's happening during a movie.
"If you're giving people their money's worth, that price doesn't become an issue any more," he said
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