Fox gets in motion with Blu-ray

Studio set to release titles encoded for use with D-Box seats

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 10/2/2006

OCT. 2 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is taking high-definition movie viewing to a new level, distributing over the next year 10 to 30 Blu-ray Disc titles pre-loaded with motion-sensor technology that works with D-Box’s line of luxury home theater furniture.

D-Box's chair gives the user the feel of the action on the screen.

The first titles should street in the next several weeks at all retailers. Title details have not yet been specified.

“We are impressed with what we have seen,” said Danny Kaye, senior VP of research and technology strategy at Fox. “After color and sound, we believe motion could be the next big wave in movie viewing. We feel that D-box is a pioneer and are pleased to be partnered with them.”

As part of a three-year deal inked in September, Deluxe will manufacture all D-Box pre-encoded discs.

Fox is the only studio so far to grant titles D-Box treatment, but D-Box and Deluxe officials hope other studios, including HD DVD backers, will contribute movies for motion encoding in the near future.

“Blu-ray is a high-end theater application,” said Randy Berg, Deluxe director of operations. “So D-Box fits right into that [consumer demographic]. And we think there will be a lot of excitement around [both] new formats.”

Up until now, D-Box film encoding became available weeks after the movies’ DVD releases. Paying annual fees, D-Box subscribers can access the codes by hooking up their DVD player to a separate Internet-connected set-top box. That controller box synchronizes D-Box motion-equipped seats with the movement in a scene on a DVD.

Presently, D-Box offers motion codes for 630 films.

The top-end D-Box furniture option is a $10,000 leather recliner. People also can purchase the less expensive $3,200 D-Box Universal platform, which straps underneath a regular chair for motion sensation.

At this point, the D-Box market is very limited, as just several thousand households have been willing to pay the thousands of dollars to own the equipment.

“We want to take this from a niche to mainstream market product,” Berg said. “Right now, people are spending $10,000 on a high-def TV. And as we expand the market, prices [on high-def products] will drop.”

D-Box’s products are available at mostly tech specialty outlets such as Tweeter.

Deluxe and D-Box are in the middle of a demonstration tour of the motion products. Last Friday in Burbank, Calif., attendees experienced a plane crash, among other action-packed scenes, while watching Fox’s Flight of the Phoenix from a D-Box recliner. D-Box demo hosts pointed out that motion can range from quite subtle to very explosive.

“We’re not sure of the time frame, but we think this can become standard technology,” Berg said. “Kind of like the evolution of mono to stereo to surround sound.”

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