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4DX theatre experience makes its North American debut this summer


Despite what the above video shows you, you won't be whipping around in theatre seats in the midst of car chases anytime soon. But if you're going to L.A. this summer, you will be able to test out the experience for yourself in the safe confines of a movie theatre.

South Korean company CJ Group is bringing its 4DX technology to its first American theatre this year, Regal Cinemas LA Live Stadium 14 in downtown Los Angeles, The Verge reports. The technology has been in theaters in other parts of the world for some time now, particularly in the company's native South Korea, and installed in theatres at a cost of roughly US$1.5 million-$2 million.

What is 4DX, you ask? The company touts it as the "most immersive cinema experience," which roughly translates into a multi-sensory theatre-going experience. Instead of just watching and hearing the movie, your seat will move, synchronized with the action on screen. You'll also feel wind, fog and lighting effects to "enhance" the movie experience, and even scents synchronized with the movie where appropriate.

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While the company claims that it's a distant cry from the hokey motion seats and special effects you'll find at many theme parks, some disagree. The Verge blogger Trent Wolbe explains at length that while the ring of fans and other gizmos mounted around the ceiling may look cool, the motion seats were quite jarring, and poorly-timed wind effects did the opposite of their intended purpose and actually took him out of the experience.

A tamer version of the motion theatre experience is already in Canada, thanks to Quebec-based company D-Box. Unlike the 4DX seats, there are no special wind, fog or scent effects, but the seats do move in synchronization with the on-screen events and the speakers placed on either side of your head (same as the 4DX seats) do provide a deeper stereo audio experience.

Having seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in a D-Box seat, I can tell you that it did make my movie-going experience more enjoyable, and for the right film, I'd do it again. One of the other differences between D-Box and 4DX so far, it appears, is that only one row of seats in a theatre are dedicated to the motion seats, while the 4DX seats are through the entire theatre. There's also an option to increase and decrease the amount of motion in a D-Box seat.

Whether you've tested out a D-Box seat locally, or have traveled further afield and had the 4DX experience, let us know what you thought of it (or what you think of the idea in general) in the comments below.

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