Cinema halls may soon be a matter of history. With people getting comfortable with social distancing and the rise of Over The Top (OTT) Media Services, a decline in the preference for the movie theatre culture will certainly witness a decline. What more? We will soon have people enthusiastically consuming movies from the comfort of their homes and forgetting any need of visiting theatres for getting entertained.
However, this culture may also breed isolationism, which may not be taken well by the humans, who are always fond of social proximity. Theaters provide an experience that the OTT platforms cannot provide as the viewers are cut off from the public and are watching media without much of immersive experience. And this immersive experience is what makes theatres so lively, which leads people to flock them even in the age when media can be directly consumed on laptops.
The future of entertainment looks a bit different. People will flock to theaters, without actually going to theaters. The immersive experience of theaters will be ensured by the strides we would have made in the area of virtual reality. The movie buff of the future will not travel distances to theatre, but will simply put on a VR-headgear and get teleported to a virtual simulation of movie theatres. And the realm won’t be limited to simply movie theaters, but also operas, sports tournaments, open theatres and cultural performances.
Socializing in virtual worlds
The movie enthusiast will be notified of a new movie through a chat message, containing a deep link to book tickets. Once the show is about to begin, the viewer will don a VR-headgear, log into the VR OTT platform and join the room to watch the movie. Her friends who would have also logged into the same room will appear just on the next seats. Together, all of them will watch a movie without traveling any distance away from home and still getting a feel of being with friends. Moreover, you may not even feel perturbed by anyone’s presence in front of you or anyone blocking the screen while finding their seat. You may also find solace from hooting of people during movies, which will lead to a much greater fulfilling experience.
And yes, people never like the sound of someone chattering with friends or munching some snack, while the movie is going on. However, in the VR-enabled theater experience, you will be able to chat with your friends through a chatbox, which can take voice commands and convert them into text. These text messages will show up a small popups at the corner of the screen in very subtle colors, in order to not distract your friend. Chatting while watching will get much more comfortable, and all the more tolerable in the virtual world. The virtual movie theatre will be a much better environment to enjoy a movie and reap 100% entertainment out of it.
Multiple movies to explore
What if you don’t like the movie? Well, not to worry. The theatres of tomorrow won’t charge you for a movie, but for a fixed duration. Suppose you buy a ticket for 3 hours. In those 3 hours, you will have the option to go to as many movie rooms as you may like. Suppose you don’t like the current movie that you joined first. Simply, browse on the VR platform for the other movies being streamed during that time, click on the desired one and get switched to the new movie room. Obviously, you will be joining a movie midway. But that’s still better than getting bored watching a mundane movie which has no frequency aligning with that of yours.
Evolved advertisements on the go
We will certainly not have popcorn counters outside the theatres waiting to pounce on us the moment we walk out during the interval. Rather, the sellers of snacks and other items will evolve their marketing strategies. During the movie, a sidebar may feature in translucent colors (lest you get distracted) and show a list of advertisers with their products. You may get advertisements from burger joints, beverage providers and even gadget sellers. They will advertise their products and services, request for orders and promise to deliver them during the interval time. You may just virtually click on the options and select a few services, pay through a single-click and be assured to get the services on time.
Your orders will then reach the service providers closest to your location, so that the orders can be fulfilled at the earliest. The interval time will be known to these entities and they will send a delivery person to your doorstep right during the interval for you to receive the order. Your snack requirements will therefore, be taken care of.
Advanced analytics for granular insights
What good is a digital platform if it does not provide any insights on consumer behavior? Based on how long did viewers stay in the movie room, how many of them left midway and how well the movie was received will be made available to the movie production house on chargeable basis. The audience will have an option to rate the movie during exit from the movie room, and also have the option to share live reviews during the show. Ratings at the end of a show usually communicate the average sentiment of the viewer of the entire show. But it does not reveal the places where the customer feels overjoyed, or the spots where the audience feels disappointed. These minute real-time tracking of sentiment is required to understand the granular insights into what facets of the movie are good and which ones aren’t. These insights will give a deep dive into the audience sentiments and will help the production houses understand what works well with the audience and what doesn’t.
Integration of 3rd party platforms
The virtual platforms will also be a place of other service providers and applications to integrate and find synergies. Geo-social networking platforms will integrate with virtual theatres for consumers to find interesting people in the room. Moreover, gaming apps will integrate with VR platforms and will give bored viewers to enter gaming rooms and play small virtual games with people in the theatre. Similarly, knowledge and news platforms will integrate themselves with VR movie platforms, and will provide snippets of factual information in case the movie is based on some historical event. This way, a viewer will not only watch a movie but also get a holistic all-round experience on a matter of interest.
Conclusion
The theatres of tomorrow will be virtual realms that will provide a whole immersive experience to people and will bring in more services to the integrated platform. The viewers will treat the virtual theatres as not only the places for watching a movie, but also for networking, socializing and gaining some value out of the sessions. The movie-buff of tomorrow will be much more agile on the virtual realm and will gain a 360-degree experience through the VR-movies.
