The Ultimate Mobile Movie Experience
Submitted by Pocketcine on January 17, 2007 - 12:41pm.
I recently came across a concept dubbed "mobmov," short for mobile movies, that does damage to the current paradigm of a digital video playing on the 3-inch screen of a mobile phone.
Mobmov began as a self-confessed hair-brained idea, which was to project movies on walls of public buildings from the front seat of a car. The nostalgic twist is that it emulates the drive-in movie theater experience that we remember fondly from the past. (At least some of us do.)
The mobmov is an ad hoc entertainment event shared among friends, a kind of movie rave. Begun as a personal project by its creator Bob Kennedy, a 25-year old web developer, it has become somewhat of an international sensation.
Kennedy has a website where start-ups can acquire the information for creating a mobmov (http://mobmov.org/manifesto/). Instructions include how to transmit the soundtrack of the movie to the car radios of the other participants. He includes recommendations for a projector that costs $500 US. The really interesting note is that it uses cheap $30 bulbs, overcoming the major disadvantage of projectors, their cost of ownership.
What makes this story truly interesting is what Kennedy says about this new phenomenon:
If you have read any of my other blogs, you’ll know that a constant theme is the social nature of the new medium and this particular form of “mobile video” really connects with that idea. But is it really “mobile video.”
Well I don’t happen to think that a mobile movie needs to be connected, since it plays in a stream and does not require (and probably should not have) audience participation. And Kennedy does not speculate about the future of his hobby, so he is really is working in the old drive-in theater paradigm. However I think all that is required to turn the concept into a true wireless experience is for somebody to develop a wireless connection to a website and stream a movie to the vehicle projecting the movie. (There also needs to be a carrier plan in place to make this an inexpensive proposition.) This would allow the streaming of live events to all kinds of impromptu venues, like rented conference rooms, or rooms rented for wedding events.
Recently it occurred to me that mobile entertainment will not really come into its own until people can download or stream content from web sites. Up to now I have been thinking of the mobile device as a storage medium. But it seems that one of the advantages of the web is to provide a means of distribution for content that is targeted to a specialized audience.
Kennedy does not talk about the future of his idea, other than as a kind of mobile movie rave. But it seems that the ability to project movies or programs on exterior or interior walls from a mobile device to a specialized audience or a community of people really makes the idea of mobile movies "big."
Mobmov began as a self-confessed hair-brained idea, which was to project movies on walls of public buildings from the front seat of a car. The nostalgic twist is that it emulates the drive-in movie theater experience that we remember fondly from the past. (At least some of us do.)
The mobmov is an ad hoc entertainment event shared among friends, a kind of movie rave. Begun as a personal project by its creator Bob Kennedy, a 25-year old web developer, it has become somewhat of an international sensation.
Kennedy has a website where start-ups can acquire the information for creating a mobmov (http://mobmov.org/manifesto/). Instructions include how to transmit the soundtrack of the movie to the car radios of the other participants. He includes recommendations for a projector that costs $500 US. The really interesting note is that it uses cheap $30 bulbs, overcoming the major disadvantage of projectors, their cost of ownership.
What makes this story truly interesting is what Kennedy says about this new phenomenon:
The challenge of creating something completely new was what inspired me to do this in the first place. But when word spread and membership widened, I realized that the real reward came from meeting all the interesting people who came to my showings. The mobmov attracts a friendly lot, full of stories and ideas. If not for this project, I wouldn't have gotten to know them. The mobmov is a community experience, a place for people to gather and share in the splendor of the great American movie. That sounds like a pretty worthy hobby to me.
If you have read any of my other blogs, you’ll know that a constant theme is the social nature of the new medium and this particular form of “mobile video” really connects with that idea. But is it really “mobile video.”
Well I don’t happen to think that a mobile movie needs to be connected, since it plays in a stream and does not require (and probably should not have) audience participation. And Kennedy does not speculate about the future of his hobby, so he is really is working in the old drive-in theater paradigm. However I think all that is required to turn the concept into a true wireless experience is for somebody to develop a wireless connection to a website and stream a movie to the vehicle projecting the movie. (There also needs to be a carrier plan in place to make this an inexpensive proposition.) This would allow the streaming of live events to all kinds of impromptu venues, like rented conference rooms, or rooms rented for wedding events.
Recently it occurred to me that mobile entertainment will not really come into its own until people can download or stream content from web sites. Up to now I have been thinking of the mobile device as a storage medium. But it seems that one of the advantages of the web is to provide a means of distribution for content that is targeted to a specialized audience.
Kennedy does not talk about the future of his idea, other than as a kind of mobile movie rave. But it seems that the ability to project movies or programs on exterior or interior walls from a mobile device to a specialized audience or a community of people really makes the idea of mobile movies "big."
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