Narration lets blind enjoy films
Deseret News, 18 June 2004
Article Summary:
The Megaplex 12 Theatres at The Gateway recently installed Descriptive Video Service (DVS), which provides blind moviegoers with an audio description of a movie's action and scenery through a special headset.
The DVS system was developed by the Media Access Group at WGBH in Boston and uses the time code on the film to synchronize the descriptive narrative with specific frames of the movie.
Dave Sarle, who became blind after an accident at the age of 15, campaigned for DVS by writing letters to every theater chain in Utah. Megaplex Theatres responded by installing Utah's first DVS system at the Megaplex 12 at the Gateway. The system costs about $6,000 and is currently installed in only one of the theater's auditoriums. The next closest theater with DVS is in Arizona.
The Megaplex 12 at the Gateway may also install a $5,000 "rear-window captioning" system. Hearing-impaired moviegoers would read dialogue on a 5-by-10-inch piece of smoky Plexiglas that reflects a read-out display on the theater's back wall.
The DVS system was developed by the Media Access Group at WGBH in Boston and uses the time code on the film to synchronize the descriptive narrative with specific frames of the movie.
Dave Sarle, who became blind after an accident at the age of 15, campaigned for DVS by writing letters to every theater chain in Utah. Megaplex Theatres responded by installing Utah's first DVS system at the Megaplex 12 at the Gateway. The system costs about $6,000 and is currently installed in only one of the theater's auditoriums. The next closest theater with DVS is in Arizona.
The Megaplex 12 at the Gateway may also install a $5,000 "rear-window captioning" system. Hearing-impaired moviegoers would read dialogue on a 5-by-10-inch piece of smoky Plexiglas that reflects a read-out display on the theater's back wall.