Skip to main content

Sony subtitle glasses: Adding closed captioning to any movie theater experience

Sony subtitle glasses Adding closed captioning to any movie theater experience
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For the hearing impaired, going to the movies could mean planning your day around the schedule of when theaters screen your selected film with closed captioning. That, or skipping the entire movie-going experience and waiting until the movie comes out in DVD, Blu-Ray, or on cable television.

With the new Sony subtitle glasses, theaters may now be able to offer you the technology to screen subtitles right into your peripherals so you can see and hear the exact dialogues in each movie regardless of showtimes. The glasses wear just like any other theater accessory, such as 3D movie glasses, but a projector along the top of the frame will display closed captioning in sync with the film. This effect, according to Sony, will make the subtitles appear as if they are naturally on the screen. Users also have the ability to adjust the size of the letters to fit their reading comfort, and the glasses can be worn on top of your regular glasses if you do not wear contact lens.

Recommended Videos

Formerly a prototype, Sony aims to make this technology available for most major theaters so they can program the subtitles into the glasses beforehand. According to BBC, the United Kingdom may be one of the first markets to receive a trial of the subtitle glasses. No word yet on when the technology will arrive in American movie theaters, but we imagine it won’t be soon after.

The necessity to program the dialogues of each movie into the glasses before airing the film might mean similar technology may not yet be available in a home entertainment sector, but if the subtitle glasses gain popularity, you never know.

UPDATE: We received an update from Regal Entertainment Groups that by March 2013, the company aims to provide the Sony subtitle glasses in every digital projection shows across the United States. Regal has already begun distributing these in some showings, and the feedback from customers have been extremely positive. Now you know where you can find your subtitle glasses at the next showing of a movie!

Watch the video of a Sony subtitle glasses demonstration below.

Natt Garun
Former Digital Trends Contributor
An avid gadgets and Internet culture enthusiast, Natt Garun spends her days bringing you the funniest, coolest, and strangest…
3DMakerpro’s Seal is a pocket-sized scanner to make next-gen precision 3D prints
3DMakerpro Seal in hand lifestyle image.

This content was produced in partnership with 3DMakerpro.
3D printing truly is amazing, because you can create virtually anything, as long as you have the blueprints or digital 3D models. But while there is an excellent community behind the creation of these 3D models, and always new items, gadgets, and tools to print, you can be somewhat limited in the sense that you can't just take an item and print it without a little bit of extra work. If you don't have the skills to create a digital design -- or digital copy of an object -- you'll have to wait for the community to put something together, and it may not always match what you're wanting to create. What if there was something so much easier than that, however? What if there was a tool or device that could create remarkably accurate scans of an object and then translate that into a digital format -- one you can reprint in a 3D printer? There is, from 3DMakerpro, and it's called the Seal -- or Seal Lite in the alternative model.

Promising the "ease of scan" and combined with the "art of detail," the 3DMakerpro Seal and Seal Lite will effectively scan an item or object with supreme detail and accuracy -- a superior accuracy of 0.01mm, which is a first in the consumer-grade 3D scanner industry. It supports full color and whole texture capture in high-definition, thanks to a 24-bit high-quality color CMOS image sensor and texture camera. For you, it means that your model scans will truly come to life, including all nuanced details from material textures to fine elements. A scan of a toy dragon, for example, will feature all scales, colors, and fine details.

Read more
You can start exploring your family tree on Ancestry for free right now
Woman researching Ancestry and family tree

This content was produced in partnership with Ancestry.com.
Ever felt curious about your genealogy and ancestry? Want to know where you came from, how your family tree stacks up, and if you have any relatives out there that you don't know about? Of course, we're boiling it down to just the basics here because there's so much more you can learn about yourself and your history, but the point is, now's the perfect time to take the leap. Ancestry® is offering a 14-day free trial to help you get started on your personal history journey. In case that wasn't clear, you can try the platform for 14 days, totally free. There's no promotional code needed. Just sign up on Ancestry as a new subscriber, and you'll get your 14 days. You'll get direct and accurate insights from your DNA, including ethnicity, personal traits, family history, and so much more. It's like cracking open an egg to peer inside, only you're taking a look at your entire lineage. It's certainly exhilarating, and if you've ever been curious about where you come from and knowing your origin story, well, here's your chance.

 
Why you should try Ancestry and explore your lineage

Read more
The most innovative tech products of 2023
Digital Trends picked the most innovative products of 2023.

Our team of writers and editors reviews hundreds of products every year, and we routinely update our lists of the very best laptops, TVs, phones, and more to make sure you can find the right one for you. But let’s be honest: Sometimes the best is boring. For instance, the iPhone still makes the best phone for most people in 2023. A product that’s easy to use, affordable and reliable may be the most pragmatic purchase, but it’s not always exciting.

That’s why once a year, we like to recognize the most innovative products. Whether they introduce a few new features or totally try to reinvent a category, these are the products breaking new ground in technology. Sometimes they’re impractical, overpriced, or just don’t work as intended the first time. But we love them anyway for the sheer chutzpah it takes to try something new. And sometimes, they truly are the best, too.

Read more