Vue Cinemas has announced the installation of Auracast in 18 venues across the UK, making it the first cinema chain in the country to install the new assistive listening technology.
Journalist Liam O’Dell broke the news on his website on 21 July.
The company has already installed infrared listening devices in many of its locations. These rely on users sitting within the transmitter’s sightline and wearing a receiver unit. If the unit is covered by, say, a scarf, then the signal cuts out. It is like Auracast in that an unlimited number of people can access the signal and the receiver units work with headphones or neck loops, but people cannot bring their own device.
Vue is one of the biggest cinema chains in the UK, and its parent company also operates cinemas in Ireland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Poland.
Its UK and Ireland operation is a network of 92 cinemas with 876 screens, meaning that rolling out Auracast is no small undertaking.
The assistive listening technology enables movie lovers to bring their own listening devices to equipped screens: that could be hearing aids, headphones, Cochlear or earbuds. They simply open the Auracast Assistant app on their phone and select the screen number they are viewing.
Those without Auracast-enabled devices can borrow receiver units from the cinema and plug in either wired headphones or a personal neckloop. The latter works with hearing aids with built-in telecoils, ensuring wide compatibility.
Where possible, a second Auracast stream will be available offering an audio description track. This is dependent on the film studios making this available.
Which Vue cinemas have Auracast installed?
As Liam O’Dell notes, Vue has updated its accessibility page to include details of its Auracast. The page also includes direct links to every cinema in the group and its accessibility services.
The company writes: “Selected Vue cinemas now have Auracast technology available.
“Auracast is a Bluetooth audio technology that allows audio from a shared source, such as the cinema sound system, to be played through compatible hearing aids, earbuds, headphones or assisted listening devices. This can help customers hear the film audio more clearly through their own compatible device or through equipment provided at the cinema, where available.”
The cinemas that now have Auracast capability are:
- Vue Barrow
- Vue Bristol Cribbs
- Vue Castleford
- Vue Cheshire Oaks
- Vue Colchester
- Vue Dublin
- Vue Eastleigh
- Vue Edinburgh Omni
- Vue Glasgow Fort
- Vue Harrow
- Vue Islington
- Vue Leeds Kirkstall
- Vue Norwich
- Vue Plymouth
- Vue Portsmouth
- Vue Sheffield
- Vue Southport
- Vue Stratford
What has Vue Cinemas installed in the 18 cinemas?
The system installed in Vue Cinemas is Ampetronic’s Auri.
Craig Davey, national sales manager UK and Ireland, Ampetronic | Listen Technologies, is delighted that the company has been able to work with Vue on the project: “We’re incredibly excited to be bringing Auri and Auracast to UK cinema. The rollout has over 200 screens at Vue Cinema in the UK and Ireland so far, which is a fantastic milestone, and it’s only the beginning.
“Over the next few years, our ambition is to make this technology available on every cinema screen across the UK.”
He continued: “Auri transforms the cinema experience by allowing people with hearing loss to stream crystal clear cinema audio directly to compatible hearing aids, cochlear implants, earbuds or headphones, making movies more accessible and enjoyable without the need for dedicated receiver equipment (although dedicated receivers are available should they be required).
“Auri also offers audio description too, delivered directly to users who are blind or partially sighted, helping them enjoy a movie with greater ease and independence.
“At the same time, cinemas are benefitting by offering a more inclusive, future-ready experience that improves accessibility, enhances the customer journey, and helps welcome a wider audience.
“We’re proud to be part of making the magic of cinema accessible to everyone.”
What about captioned screenings – films with subtitles?
Like many cinemas, Vue offers a range of captioned (subtitled) screenings across the week. These are sometimes called Open Captioned (OC). Each cinema updates its listings on the Wednesday before the Friday.
This isn’t the easiest way to find out which screenings are subtitled: users have to click on the film on the Vue website and check the listings to see which screenings have been captioned.
Thankfully, a website has been set up that details which films are available with captions across the whole of the UK. YourLocalCinea.com offers the opportunity to receive email alerts tailored to the user’s location, or to search by film to find out where captioned screenings will take place.
The website states that every year it promotes around 100,000 accessible English-language captioned screenings across the UK and Ireland, covering more than 400 different films.
Visitors can search for the film they want, or the location they live in: for example, screenings in Corby bring up listings for cinemas in Corby, Kettering, Rushden, Dereham, Northampton, Peterborough, and Leicester.
It’s a brilliant and helpful website.
Another alternative offered by some cinemas is WatchWord, a pair of closed-caption glasses that the user wears. At the moment, these are mostly used in Odeon cinemas and some independents.
These are listed on its website, https://www.watchword.cc/locations
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