Moving along the fleeting images

November 7: Thirty thousand feet and everything is the way it should be. The jetplane ride is a wee bit boring; you slump in your seat and chew on popcorn and samosa. Then, in just a matter of seconds, the plane passes through a turbulent patch and shakes in an heavenly version of the St Vitus dance. Your worst nightmare seems to have sprung to life: terrorists have taken over the plane and one of them is holding aloft a grenade, minus the pin. The hero jumps into the fray, and a scuffle later, the worst has passed. Goodbye blue sky, welcome earth.

Ten minutes later, you walk out into the warm night air, drained from the drama and happy to be on solid ground again. This California based film-systems company was founded a decade ago by Don Iwerks, son of Mickey Mouse creator Ubbe Iwerks. Till date, it has set up over 200 theatres, pubs and theme parks in America and elsewhere with its interactive vision products like TurboRide, Gaint Screen, Reactor and 360 Degree Theatre. It plans to bring these to India through Leisure Expo, currently on at the World Trade Centre. “Our vision is to bring sight, sound and the immersive nature of real encounters to the screen,” says Ranjit Sitlani, management consultant to the CEO and co-chairperson of Iwerks. The TurboRide simulation is achieved with springs and hydraulic systems attached to each seat in the hall, which is synchronised precisely with the pace of events unfolding on the screen. The experience is enhanced by 30,000 watts of digital surround sound.

The second reality-enhancing product is the giant screen projection system. The screen is between 60 to 80 feet high, and reality seekers can choose between a flat screen or a dome one on the ceiling. The projection can either be in 2-D or 3-D; the 3-D projector is compatible with 2-D films.The third category with which Iwerks hopes to stun the yuppie pub crawler is the 360 Degree Theatre. Here, the crowd on the dance floor will completely be enveloped in a hall of images with as many as nine screens suspended from the ceiling. Each screen can be individually controlled by a VJ.

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The most novel of concepts is the Iwerks Portable Theatre, whose simple principle is: if the viewer cannot come to the cinema hall, let the hall go to the viewer. The reactors are mobile trailers which can seat 18 people. Iwerks hopes to lease them out to rurally-mobile movie moghuls and companies on the lookout for promotion drives with a difference.

There is no such thing as a cheap ride. Each product from the Iwerks stable costs upwards of half a million dollars.