Mo-Pix: New Technology Makes Movie Theaters Accessible to Visually and Auditory Impaired Individuals

Most teens “Spiderman 3″ was pretty cool.  However to teens who have hearing impairment, hearing aids can only do so much.

So Cheryl Mongell, Kara’s mother, did her research and discovered MoPix, a pair of technologies that makes movie theaters accessible to visually- and auditory-impaired individuals.

Mongell was interested in the Rear Window Captioning System, a unique method of providing closed captioning to deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons. If Mongell could convince a local movie theater to install the technology, then  deaf children could enjoy movies when they first come out like every other teen. Mongell says, “And then when AMC theaters bought Loews, they agreed very quickly to install it. AMC theaters has been wonderful.” AMC installed the technology free of charge, and Vice President of Special Projects Phil Pennington provided Mongell complimentary tickets for the movie two weeks ago.

AMC has installed the Rear Window Captioning System in more than 150 of its theaters across the country, according to WGBH, a partner in the project. The Rear Window Closed Captioning technology was co-developed by the Media Access Group of WGBH, a public broadcast station, and Boston Light and Sound, Inc.

In theaters with the closed-captioning technology, a display is mounted on the back wall and emits reversed text onto screens patrons attach to their seats’ cupholders. The technology allows deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons to see and read captions without distracting other patrons.