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Author Topic: AMC Sued Over Non Functional ALD Devices Stephan Shelley Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 854 From: castro valley, CA, usa Registered: Nov 2014 posted 02-25-2016 05:16 PM                     Louis while that maybe the letter of the law, I bet a jury will side with the plaintive unless one can prove that repairs were actively being made.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 02-25-2016 07:36 PM                        Stephan, I think that's why the best practice would be to log them in and out with every use, and maintain those logs indefinitely. We have 4 headsets ready for use at any given time - with more in the office if needed. I have 3 years worth of logs showing we have never had more than 4 checked out at any one time. Furthermore, only 2 of those headsets are likely to be checked out even once in a given week, and most of the time we never have more than 1 out at a time. For my theatre, 4% of the seating capacity would mean about 40 headset. If we were ever challenged, I think I have more than adequate documentation to show we have more than enough headsets to meet demand.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-25-2016 08:03 PM                        The current ALS headset requirement is about 4%. See the table at http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/2010ADAStandards/2010ADAStandards_prt.pdf#page=80 . From the NPRM and comments for the proposed rules for captioning and audio description (summaries of comments, links to comments, and link to NPRM at http://www.hallikainen.org/org/DojNprm/ ), it appears that the DOJ may have looked at the percentage of the entire population that has a hearing impairment and used that percentage as the requirement. The movie-going audience is probably not a uniform cross-section of the populations (the teenagers that turn out in huge numbers for blockbusters do not have a hearing impairment... yet). Further, the degree of impairment in the percentage they came up with may not be enough to require an assistive listening system in cinema. These, and other factors, probably led to the rule requiring many more receivers than are actually required. The DOJ appears to have used similar math to determine the proposed quantity requirements for closed captioning and audio description. The NATO comments suggest, instead, a much lower minimum quantity requirement that is updated (every six months, I think) to 150% of the average peak weekly demand for the equipment. This seems like a reasonable method of tying the requirement to local demand instead of trying to apply a uniform number nationwide. The NATO comments suggest a reporting requirement that I don't think the DOJ will go for (get buried in paper). Harold  |  IP: Logged Stephan Shelley Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 854 From: castro valley, CA, usa Registered: Nov 2014 posted 02-25-2016 09:13 PM                     I bet if AMC was as organized as Justin is they would not be in the fix they currently are. Wish management was as organized where I work.  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 02-26-2016 08:12 AM                        I like Justin's system. Have used it as a precaution. Have also used it to reduce the number of handicapped parking spots.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-26-2016 09:38 AM                     With so many people out there using their smartphones in theaters, it seems to make sense to have an app for captions, descriptions or SAP. Just broadcast captions on a private Wi-Fi system or something. Only the smartphone app can talk to the caption system. You could also make it so a password like the serial number on your ticket is required to log in.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-26-2016 12:38 PM                        Use of phones as caption and audio receivers has been considered. There are a couple ways to do it. One is, as you suggest, a private wifi network. The USL captioning equipment has a web interface where you can see the captions in real time. This COULD be extended out to the auditorium over wifi. There are various security concerns to consider. You don't want to just put the auditorium network out on public wifi. Another system uses audio signature of the audio in the auditorium to synchronize a previously downloaded caption or audio track. http://www.mylingoapp.com/index.html uses this for language translation. Another wifi system aimed at captions is http://www.dicapta.com/Whatscinema . There's also a European company ("something and something" that I can't think of at the moment) making a system using wifi transmission. I also saw a demo of an Italian (I think) system that used downloaded captions and auditorium audio sync. Exhibitors don't seem to like the use of patron phones for this purpose, but that may change. Objections include having a bright screen in the auditorium, no way to hold it in a convenient position (like the goose neck on closed caption boxes), and having a camera pointed at the screen. I believe the ADA requires cinemas to provide "auxiliary aids," but the cinema could possibly use a "use your own device" approach and have additional devices for those who do not bring their own. USL has also demonstrated a system based on the Zola patent (Patent 4859994 ). This uses an LCD projector with the polarizer removed to project a caption bar below the screen. This is a dim green rectangle. People wearing linear polarized glasses see text on the green rectangle. Those without just see the green bar. Exhibitors did not like the green bar below the screen, so further development was suspended. More thoughts on accessibility technology at http://ftp.uslinc.com/ftp/MultiProduct/Accessibility/AccessibilityBestPractices/AccessibilityBestPractices130425a.pdf . Thanks! Harold  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-26-2016 01:16 PM                     Just thinking aloud... How about a QR code on every ticket, keyed with the date, time and auditorium location? You would have to download a specific app from the theater's website or app store page to zap the QR code. The app would then automatically connect to a private Wi-Fi which has been set to not broadcast its SSID. The app knows the SSID/password then connects automagically. If the customer wants audio descriptions or SAP, just plug in a set of headphones and put the phone in your pocket. The app just sits in the foreground and plays the audio track that the customer selected. If the customer wants visual captions, the screen can go into "dark mode" at the click of a button. (i.e. Completely black screen with white text and backlight at minimum brightness.) I have a darkroom timer for my iPad that has a dark mode. It works well. I'm not necessarily saying that this should be done instead of having headphones and caption displays but it could certainly be a good adjunct to an existing system. In fact, the two systems could work on the same Wi-Fi. Just install once and use it for both.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-26-2016 02:30 PM                        Interesting thoughts. I don't think it necessarily needs to be on a private wifi that requires a passphrase (added complexity). It could go to an HTTPS URL encoded in the QR code on the ticket, or flashed on the screen, or embedded in audio (Google has a method of audibly transmitting URLs - I think it's a shortened URL that goes to them for a lookup like tinyurl). USL keeps looking at various ways to meet the accessibility (and other) needs of the cinema industry. Right now, IR is the method of choice. We'll see what the future brings. Thanks for the discussion! Harold  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 02-26-2016 02:58 PM                     It may seem like everyone owns a smart phone, but in reality that is not so, especially in the "older" demographic that may have increased need for these type of services. If the industry moves to a "smart phone", I suspect you would have still to give out devices anyway to those with dumb phones, along with those who do not want to drain their smart phone battery keeping.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-26-2016 03:32 PM                        I guess I'm in the "older demographic." I have a phone like the ones on Star Trek that flips open. Harold  |  IP: Logged Bernie Anderson Jr Master Film Handler Posts: 435 From: Woodbridge, New Jersey Registered: Apr 2000 posted 02-26-2016 06:18 PM                        I can say from experience, the Fidelio problems I've seen at my theatre (I won't say the chain, but use your imagination) is the lack of training on its usage. I had a Supervisor tell a customer that we don't have anything like that (when a customer asked for a simple hearing device)! The system is not my favorite. I wish the units themselves didn't need a programming base and software to program it. I get the idea of the system, but the way these theatres are operated, you're asking alot for staff to know how to screw in a light bulb, never mind make sure that a ALD or DV system is programmed correctly. I've had units fail and I've had transmitters fail, but when they're programmed correctly, they seem to work. The Captiview seems to be more reliable than the Fidelio. When you have 12 screens with only 10 head sets, its hard to preprogram and have them charged and ready to go. The Captiview's failure at my theatre is the lack of people shutting the unit off after use and then charging it. Personally, what I would like to see is some kind of standard signal system that the theatre has to provide. As long as its transmitting, the theatre's end is done. It is then up to the individual customer to provide a standardized receiver that can play back the system. I'm surprised by now there is no bluetooth or wifi enabled system that can be used via an app on a smartphone. All you would need to provide (along with the feed via local transmitter) is a channel or frequency for each auditorium and that can be published on the ticket. Think of it as some kind of blue tooth speaker system.  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-26-2016 06:38 PM                        Under current ADA regulations, places of public accommodation have to provide auxiliary devices. There are captioning and audio language translation systems that use an application in the device to synchronize downloaded captions or audio with the auditorium audio. It's quite possible to display captions real time on a web page. Another "bring your own receiver" method for assistive listening is the use of an inductive loop. The receiver is the person's hearing aid. But, room loops are expensive and only handle one channel of audio. Harold  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-26-2016 09:01 PM                     I want to use WiFi inside the theater so customers don't have to burn their data limit to watch a movie. I thought that the hidden SSID would keep people in the theater who are not using the WiFi for captions from bumming a free connection from the theater and using it during the movie and bother other people. I like the idea of putting the code up on the screen or piggybacking on the audio. Sounds neat! To be clear, I don't think that smartphones should be the sole means of receiving captions. The idea is to make them accessible by more people and to make them work more automatically, without need of help from poorly trained theater staff... Which is the whole reason why this subject came up in the first place. Such a system could be set up and could run all the time, whenever the movie runs. Anybody who wants captions can have them, any time. People who have phones can just use them. People who don't have phones can still borrow a headset or a display.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 02-28-2016 12:06 AM                        I like the idea of having customers use their own device which captures a feed from the theatre. The MPAA could create an app which connects to the theatre's feed using some sort of handshake method so customers don't need to worry about logging into WiFi - or maybe Bluetooth. The theatre could maintain a stock of goose neck contraptions which customers could check out to hold their own device. By having some kind of open transmission method/standard, customers could invest in a device which they feel comfortable with, and can use at many different locations. Of course the theatre would still need to keep a supply of devices for customers who don't have their own.  |  IP: Logged

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