AR & VR How Do They Impact The Movies

Concourse Media's developed Moviebill, an Augmented Reality (AR) based Playbill for the movie industry, is hawking its new wares to exhibitors.  Regal Entertainment, the second largest circuit in the U.S., has signed up and will began to use Moviebill next year.

How It Works

Each Playbill under the Moviebill moniker will promote one feature film in an AR experience -sharing behind-the-scenes footage, games, talent connecting, etc. Concourse is planning for Moviebill to debut in early 2018.  Regal would market this as a service to its moviegoers.

According to Regal spokesperson, Ken Thewes, "Moviebill provides an experience for moviegoers that helps bring the movie to life and promotes a deeper connection to the movies we exhibit. We believe Moviebill will help our goal of enhancing the moviegoing experience, providing movie fans more of what they want."

If it's experience moviegoers wish, Moviebill may be the enhanced preview (trailer) that will gin-up interest in any given film - it certainly can't hurt. No numbers were given as to the cost for Moviebill to the exhibitor, so we'll have to wait and see if the benefit at the box office out-weighs the cost.
This also presupposes a lot of movie fans have the required AR eyeglass to view the Playbills.

AR vs. VR What's The Difference

AR- Augmented Reality, takes current reality and adds something to it. It does not 'transport' the user to any other presence. Requires special AR glasses.

VR - Virtual Reality, transports the user to another place visually using a headset. VR is immersive while AR is not.

The VR business hasn't taken off as predicted by its stakeholders but it is progressing.  VR is available on gaming consoles and via mobile phone-based headsets.  Several companies have exited the VR business, such as Nokia, which halted development of its VR OZO camera system. Nokia cited, "slower than expected development of the VR industry".

According to Concourse Media, all of the major studios are working with it to provide exclusive AR experiences for the Moviebill scheme. 

Stay in touch,
Jim