Forget 3D and Fancy Snacks: The Future of Movies Is 4D

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It's early in the morning at CGV Cinemas in Koreatown, Los Angeles—before the doors open for the first screening of The Prison or The Fate of the Furious—and I'm in a darkened movie theater waiting to experience 4D cinema.

Suddenly, the screen ahead roars to life and music pulsates. And even though I know what's coming, I'm still amazed to see the walls seemingly peel back and screens expand their dimensions until I'm inside the movie.

I'm not wearing 3D glasses or a VR headset; there are no headphones with binaural sound. But as images zoom and twist, it feels like I'm flying through space. This is ScreenX from Korea-based CJ 4DPLEX.

The lights come up. Catching my astonished expression, Brandon Choi, COO of CJ 4DPLEX America, deadpans: "Yes, we tipped the cinema on its side, just for you." In fact, that's exactly what it felt like.

CJ 4DPLEX is headquartered in Seoul, with offices in LA and Beijing. Its technology was developed under the supervision of Junyoung Noh, a professor at top Korean university KAIST, which is also home to Hubo, a robot that won the DARPA Challenge in 2015.

Choi has been in LA for a year, working to persuade US theaters to upgrade to CJ 4DPLEX technology.

"I've noticed here in the US that cinema owners have made more cosmetic changes—more comfortable seats, better snacks—but haven't really upgraded the tech," says Choi. "Korea is famous for trying new things, for innovation. We've proved that cinemagoers in Asia want a 4DX experience; around the world, 4DX is expanding with an average of two screens a week. Now we want to bring that to the US."

The 4DX Experience

ScreenX is just one part of the CJ 4DPLEX puzzle; the other piece is across town. After a ride through LA traffic to a somewhat secret location, Catherine Yi, Creative Director of i-Studio, buzzes us through the security doors and into a preview theater.

I take a seat, the lights go out, and the cinematic clips start. First up is a car chase. I'm thrown back as the seat moves on its axis, a puff of wind blows in my face, and I'm sprayed (lightly, mascara intact) with water as the on-screen motorcycle screeches through rain.

Something creepy tickles my ankles (horror!), I feel a breath of air in my right ear as if a ghost is passing by (*shivers*), a few odors are emitted (toast was one of the nicer ones) and—as someone gets stabbed in the movie—my seat jabs me. Yes, I scream.

A bit shaken—in an invigorating and cathartic way—I join Yi in the debriefing area.

"We have three degrees of motion with 20 special effects in all," Yi explains. "A new twisting motion was introduced at CinemaCon recently, [which] works especially well with scenes involving car chases or anything on the ocean.

"We can sync up anything cool on-screen, from blasts, explosions, and stabbing with physical sensations inside the seats, as well as eight different scents, snow particles, and even in-theater sprinklers for rainstorms," she says.

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To date, CJ 4DPLEX has installed 45,000 4DX-equipped seats in 47 countries. The biggest markets right now are in China, Korea, and Japan, and the company is hoping the US is not be too far behind.

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"We've worked with the Big Hero 6 directors—the feedback that directors have is incredible, for us, as it's such a cool new way for them to see a movie that they're so close to and they come up with great ideas," Yi says. Kevin Smith has dropped by on different occasions to watch movies that we've edited with 4DX effects just because he gets a kick out of the tech."

There are nine 4DX screens and three ScreenX screens in the US. But if you want the full experience, there's only one US cinema that's fully tricked out with 4DX and ScreenX.

So, if you happen to be in Southern California and want to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 in full 4D, head to CGV Cinemas Buena Park. The editors at iStudio worked with Guardians director James Gunn (who tweeted his 4DX fandom recently) and the Marvel Studios team to create a new way of watching Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Groot (Vin Diesel) save outer space while getting on down to sounds from the 70s. Welcome to the future of cinema, Korean style.

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