Rear Window Captioning Update

Rear Window Captioning has finally arrived in San Diego, and Char and I have attended a couple of shows. We have some thoughts on the technology that we wanted to share.

Far and away the best thing about it is being able to attend a movie when it suits us, rather than when it suits the movie theater. It was really empowering to be able to choose to see a movie Thursday night at 7PM.

Another really good thing about it is that the other movie patrons were not "inconvenienced" by the presence of captions on the screen. I've never really understood why having captions at the bottom of the screen detracts from people's movie pleasure, but I do believe that the objections are strong enough that open captioned movies (those with captions on the screen) will never become mainstream. Rear Window Captioning, on the other hand, is invisible to those who choose not to use it.

A third advantage of Rear Window Captioning is that it comes "bundled" with Video Description, which is sorta like captioning for the blind. That system provides audio descriptions of what's occurring in the movie over wireless headsets.

Of course, there are a couple of downsides to the technology. One is that we have to check out the "window" before the movie and return it after the movie. It's a small inconvenience.

(For those who have never seen this system, the user has a smoked plastic "window" that is attached to a flexible gooseneck, which is attached to a base that sits in the cupholder. The user places the device in the cupholder and adjusts the window so that the captions appear on the window. The captions are actually displayed in reverse in on the back wall, so the reflection in the window is properly oriented.)

Somewhat more troubling is identifying oneself as a person with a hearing loss by carrying the window around. This may be a security concern for some people and an "image" concern for others. Many (most?) people with hearing loss choose not to wear hearing aids because they're too conspicuous. You can be pretty sure that these folks will never use the Rear Window system. They would use open captioning, because its use doesn't self-identify a person as one with a hearing loss.

Another problem was difficulty getting the window to stay in place. This was due to the fact that the screws at either end of the gooseneck were not tight enough, and it happened both times we attended. I tightened them as best I could, and it was "good enough". But many people who want to use the system would be unable to fix the devise in the theater. We informed the theater personnel that they need to be sure that all the screws are tight. They didn't follow through the first time; we'll see if they did the second. (I'm bringing a screwdriver and a set of allen wrenches just in case ;-)

An additional problem is the limited number of windows available. Our ALDA group was hoping to attend a movie as a group, but the theater has only 12 windows. It's certainly enough for normal situations, but it will put some restrictions on parties, etc.

And finally, while we're now able to choose when we'll attend a movie, we're still unable to choose which movie to attend. Only one screen is currently equipped with the Rear Window System. Still, we are getting first run movies, and it looks like we'll be getting a good variety.

Here's a list of cities that have Rear Window Systems installed. (I wonder why Canada, with one-tenth the population of the U.S., has nearly as many cities that provide Rear Window systems?)

California
- Hollywood
- Los Angeles
- Orange
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Sherman Oaks
- Universal City

Georgia
- Atlanta

Illinois
- Chicago

Louisiana
- New Orleans

Maryland
- Baltimore

Massachusetts
- Boston
- Framingham
- Revere
- Worcester

New Jersey
- Clifton

New York
- Bronx

Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia

Virginia
- Springfield
- Virginia Beach

Washington
- Seattle

Wisconsin
- Milwaukee

Alberta, Canada
- Calgary
- Edmonton

British Columbia, Canada
- Burnaby
- Langley
- Richmond
- Victoria

Manitoba, Canada
- Winnipeg