See 'Iron Man 3' in 4DX... in Tokyo

The motion, the smells, the moisture, the 3D, and the hot air of 'Iron Man 3' in 4DX.

4DX, the amalgam of gimmicks that are unlikely to make it to home theater anytime soon state their case with 'Iron Man 3.' In an article on the Verge, the sensory overload available only in the near Tokyo city of Nagoya is related in full detail. The verdict not unsurprisingly is that some gimmicks work better than others.

For 'Iron Man 3' it starts with 3D conversion, a feature which is aided by the motion sensation derived from moving seats. The immersion felt from the "seats' movement is surprisingly high, and in scenes where Iron Man soars through the air it lends an appreciable level of immersion."

The theater's colored strobe lights also receive high marks and seem to add a little visual shock to each explosion.

On the other hand, haptic feedback receives little love. "One of the first 4DX-enabled events sets the tone: a mysterious plant smolders on screen, and you feel a vibration in your back. This is weird and off-putting, and highlights a major limitation of 4DX — its haptic feedback comes from behind, but all the action happens in front of you."

With the viewer's behind feeling the vibration, the front is left to be blasted with water. That's right, a bar in front of the viewer sprays water in sync with (loosely) aquatic situations onscreen. "Does it really add to the moment to get a faceful when Iron Man falls into the ocean following a helicopter attack?"

The 4DX aroma array is likewise less loved. Regardless of the system's library of scents, the viewer "was only able to distinguish a single one during the entire film, a chemically sweet, metallic odor that seemed to pop up at random."

More effective than water is air, and when timed with onscreen gunfire can be interesting but at a cost. The air jets, situated on either side of the headrest, tend to drown out sound when activated, which quickly hurts any onscreen action.

Ultimately, it would seem that 4DX is a mixed bag, and when considering how appropriate 'Iron Man 3' is, with so much action and cool onscreen suit experiences, "4DX is (still) going to come off to you as little more than a Disneyland ride... If a blockbuster like this isn’t the perfect use case, what is?"

Source: The Verge

Author: Brian Hoss

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