14 DAY TRIAL // Have you ever been bothered by ringing cell-phones, or people constantly chatting on their mobile phones while watching a movie in a cinema?
Regal Entertainment Group - the largest cinema chain in the US - is testing a device, about the site of a pager and with four colorful buttons, which allows members of the audience to alert the movie theater managers about any problems they might encounter while trying to watch the movie.
One of the buttons alerts the cinema staff about a faulty movie projection, while a second button can be pressed if the room temperature is off. If you are having problems with a person who does not want to give up chatting on their mobile, and is disturbing everyone around, there is a button specifically for that, and which will alert the manager about a disruption in the audience. The forth button is for various "other" issues.
After reaching a point where fights broke out constantly in cinemas because of mobile phones, Regal Entertainment group has decided to try out this new method, and is testing this device at 25 different locations. The gadget tends to be given for testing to more mature audience members, seeing that younger people are usually the cause of disruptions in cinemas. "We had gotten to the point ... where we have had people getting into physical battles in theaters", said the CEO of Regal, Michael Campbell, at the Reuters Media Summit. "One customer will say to another 'Shut off your cellphone', or 'Shut up' ... We've had people assaulted with bats, knives, guns."
By presenting their audience with the new anti-cell phone device, Regal Entertainment Group is trying to make sure that people will have a pleasant experience while watching movies in their cinemas.