Over thirty years ago, WGBH, Boston's public broadcasting station, revolutionized television and video for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing by providing program dialogue as text or "captions" on the lower third of the television screen.

WGBH then worked to develop a technological tool to enable people who are blind or visually impaired access to visual images. The result was the introduction of Descriptive Video Service® or DVS® in 1990. DVS provides narrated descriptions of key visual elements during pauses in the soundtrack of a program. Together these two technologies enable thirty-six million people to fully enjoy television programming independently.

Building on its past success in pioneering access solutions, in 1992 WGBH began researching captioning and description in movie theaters to enable independent access to films. WGBH successfully developed two innovative technologies that make it possible to provide closed captions and descriptive narration for deaf and blind patrons, without the need for special prints or screenings or altering the experience for the general audience. Collectively these systems are known as Motion Picture Access or MoPix.

The patented Rear Window® Captioning System displays reversed captions on a light-emitting diode (LED) text display which is mounted in the rear of a theater. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons use transparent acrylic panels attached to their seats to reflect the captions so that they appear superimposed on the movie screen. The reflective panels are portable and adjustable, enabling the caption user to sit anywhere in the theater. The Rear Window System was co-developed by WGBH and Rufus Butler Seder of Boston, Mass.

DVS Theatrical® delivers descriptive narration via infrared or FM listening systems, enabling blind and visually impaired moviegoers to hear the descriptive narration on headsets without disturbing other audience members. The descriptions provide narrated information about key visual elements such as actions, settings, and scene changes, making movies more meaningful to people with vision loss. These technologies have been available in specialty theaters--such as large format movie theaters and theme parks--for several years.


The following theatres offer the MoPix Caption Service:

Squire

Transformers 2
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 12:00PM, 3:30PM, 7:00PM, 10:30PM


Chelsea 9

Transformers 2
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 12:00AM, 3:30PM, 7:00PM, 10:30PM

New City

The Hangover
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 1:00PM, 3:15PM, 5:30PM, 7:45PM, 10:00PM


Kinnelon

Ice Age 3
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 11:30AM, 1:50PM, 4:10PM, 6:30PM, 8:50PM


Middlebrook

Transformers 2
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 12:20AM, 3:40PM, 7:00PM, 10:20PM


Succasunna

The Proposal
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 12:10PM, 2:40PM, 5:10PM, 7:40PM, 10:10PM


Mansfield

Public Enemies
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 11:30AM, 2:30PM, 5:30PM, 8:30PM

 
Headquarters 10

Public Enemies
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 1:00PM, 4:00PM, 7:10PM, 10:10PM


Parsippany

Taking of Pelham 123
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 11:50AM, 10:00PM

Year One
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 2:30PM, 4:50PM, 7:30PM


South Orange 5

Taking of Pelham 123
Friday, July 3 - Thursday, July 9 - 12:00PM, 2:30PM, 5:00PM, 7:30PM, 10:10PM