What exactly is D-Box?
D-Box, simply put is an immersive motion movie seating technology. As a company, D-Box is one of the world’s leading, if not leading, We thought as Ster Kinekor we’ve been quite innovative in bringing different ways for consumers to experience movies so D-Box was the natural progression from Imax, Prestige as well as our kiddies cinema we launched recently. D-Box aims to immerse you into the movie, as the movie plays, whatever actions take place in the movie are being simulated (replicated) by the chairs.
How do you think people will react to D-Box? And will it stick around?
The fortunate part for us is that all these ways of watching movies i.e. 2D, 3D, Imax etc. don’t really compete with each other. With D-Box all these other platform enhance the D-Box experience regardless of which picture quality you choose i.e. 2 D or 3D, it’s complimentary to each other. You don’t only get the visual stimulation but also the movement of the seat that will lead to an amazing movie experience.
How many cinemas in South Africa will accommodate D-Box?
There are currently four cinemas that we have it in, Mall of Africa and Rosebank here in Johannesburg, Cavendish in Cape Town and Gateway in Durban. You’ll notice that there are red D-Box seats amongst the normal seats so you can all enjoy the movie together. The idea is to create awareness around it, you’d have to book on the site/at the ticket booth for it and it has a special section reserved for it. D-Box is the only motion seating technology that allows you to place the seat in a commercial cinema, amongst normal seats without it being a disturbance.
What would you like people to take away from the whole experience?
There’s a reason why people come to the cinema in the first place and that’s for the experience and I feel that when you do things like we do here at Ster Kinekor, add to making the experience real. We may be in the movie business but we’re also in the entertainment business. What this would do, or we’d hope it does, is make the decision between a dinner, movies,party or clubbing so much more difficult because now movies are actively competing with other forms of relaxing as the experience are so much more enhanced. Cinema is venturing into a space where there are no more limitations and I hope South Africans will appreciate the impact of technology.
Is it safe to say that what cinemas have been preaching i.e. we transport you to a new world, has been fulfilled?
You are a part of the movie you’re watching and being taken into it so yes, it’s safe to say we lived up to our promise. Everyone will have their own take on it and experience it differently but we’re confident that you’ll be transported to a new world. If you take into consideration where movies have started and how far we’ve come, you’ll realize that movies have always been about escapism. Cinema has been a part of our history and most of us can remember when and which movie we first saw in cinema coming from an era of watching movies in a garage or at school.
D-Box in South Africa
Motheo Matsau
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