“Dinner and a movie” takes on a whole new meaning for people with hearing loss as Paul and Kathy Hopkins recently found out. Paul and Kathy both have a hearing loss that makes attending a movie at a theatre virtually impossible since there are no subtitles or captions provided for most movies. And even when there was technology introduced at the theatres years ago, moviegoers with hearing loss found it to be a difficult experience at best.
This past summer, Regal Cinemas introduced a new technology to their theatres nationwide. They rolled out Sony Entertainment Access Glasses – a lightweight, discreet device that allows deaf and hard of hearing people to view closed captions directly in their line of sight. The new Sony devices also come with optional audio tracks on headphones that describe what’s happening in the movie for blind and visually impaired people.
Another benefit to the technology is that it is available for all movies and times (provided the moviemaker added captions). No more limited choices in what movie to see and what time to see it.
For more information, view the YouTube presentation at Regal Access — Glasses with Open Captions [HD].
So … what good movies have you seen lately?