My main focus for this project was to change the idea of people not wanting to sit next to each other in a movie theater. Many times theaters will have one open seat between two groups of people and that seat is either left vacant, or another person will have to sit there seperated from their own group. The picture above shows how empty seats are evident in a theater no matter the group size.
Analysis
After I began to explore a theater and look at different interactions within it, I thought of potential solutions and started to focus on what I thought would make the biggest impact. I narrowed in on the theater seats. I looked at how they sat in the theater, the proximity between two seats, how they fit users and different user profiles.
I began focusing on the entire movie theater I looked at where the most popular seating is and why this is. I thought of how when I go to the theater I pick a spot based on visibility and proximity from other users. The diagram on the right is similar but focuses on space between to individual seats.
The diagram on the left shows the traffic flow for the theater and the path a user would typically take to their seat. The diagram on the right is a close up of the traffic flow and focusing on congestion betwen rows. Notice that when one user is trying to reach their seat they have to manuever through other user's feet, legs, belongings, etc.
These diagrams show what many users do while in the movie theater. The one of the left shows how people usually come to the theater to watch and listen to the movie. The one on the right shows an extreme user and how they prefer to talk or use their mobile device while the movie is playing.
Because eating is an important factor of movie theaters, I looked at the interaction of food and drink within a theater. Of course there is the cup holder but there is also the conflict of who is going to use the cup holder since it is shared between two seats.l. Also, there is no place for food to be held besides the user's lap or hands. Something that comes with eating is trash meaning clean-up is an essential part of maintaining the theater. The diagram on the right shows where trash might be. This extended the focus to not only the person watching the theater, but also someone associated after the movie has completed.
The two diagrams above focus mainly on children in movie theaters. The one the left shows how many children have trouble being able to see in the movie theater. Although they have the option of the booster seat there is very little comfort with those and not aesthetically pleasing for children. The diagram on the right shows a user with more than one child to take care of. Being in this situation myself, I know how difficult it can be to watch more than one or two children while still enjoying the movie.
I made the two diagrams above to remind myself of what I am really trying to solve and who are going to be the people associated with my idea. This helped me think of ideas and helped me understand what my project was really about. I realized I am focusing on the user and how I can make the theater experience more enjoyable for them.
POV STATEMENT:
People in movie theater need to have a way to sit comfortably that allows the user to decide the amount of space the want between another user because people's comfortable and personal space is important.
Ideation
After looking at the different interactions and associations within a theater, I began to explore new ideas and possibilites of how I could improve the theater experience and change how people interacted while in a theater.
In this first sketch I thought of the idea of simply having the chairs be able to pivot so the user can turn away people they do not know while turning towards people they do.
This is idea is similar to the previous but instead the seats are on a type of track so each seat can be moved either closer or farther apart.
This idea was to have groups of chairs at different spots in the theater. This would replace the ordinary rows and provide a new theater experience.
I thought of the idea of making groups of seats and turning them into basically a couch. They would be in groups of either two or three to fit basically any group size. Such as, a group of 5 could have a couch for two people and three people, or a group of six could have two couches being 3 people each. The seats could also be mobile with respect to code.
This idea was to actually enhance how users do not sit together by placing tables throughout the theater. This would give space between other users and provide a place for belongings and food.
This idea was to have some type of shell or semi-circle around the chairs. It would surrond groups of two or three seats much like the previous idea of the couch.
Instead of having one height for the arm rest, the user would be able to decide how high or low they wanted it. This way they could push it down to be flush with the chairs or pull it up to create a wall or barrier between the person next to them.
Although the seats would still be in rows, the user could have the option of moving the seat forward or back. This allows the user to be able to pick the amount of space the want between the person next to them.
This is similar to my previous idea of the couches but the seats would be stationary. They would be built more for comfort than space. It would allow some space between other users but make it more personal for the groupings of users.
This idea was to simply add an extra arm rest to fix the complications of fighting over an arm rest and provide more space between users.
Couch Seats
I thought of the idea of having the seats turn into some sort of couch. This would allow for more comfort during the movie and give a "homier" feel. The arm rest could become a barrier between two users by being pulled up to different heights. It could be as low as flush with the seat for couples or families, or as high as the back rest to make a wall for users who do not know one another. Some seats could also be taken out and be replaced with a table to store belongings or hold food and drinks.
Morphable Seats
Another idea was having "morphable" seats. The entire row would be one solid structure in the shape of chairs, but the user could morph it to fit their needs. If they wanted more space between each other, they could mold the seat to create a bigger arm rest. If they wanted to be closer to someone the could morph the seats to basically make one big seat. This would also give more comfort than the existing theater seats which in turn, could attract more users and benefit the theater.
Pivot
After some ideation, I began to realize problems with these two ideas. The idea of the seats being more of a couch allows for comfort and gives the user the space they need, there are similar ideas already existing and new problems began to occur such as cleaning and maintaining.
Although the morphable chairs could be comfortable for users, there began to be different problems concerning code and other factors with the theater itself. The seats would no longer be significant from one another so the amount of people allowed in the theater would be unknown. Also, this could also allow for less room between users than the already exisiting design.
Re-Ideating
I went back to my analysis drawings and looked at some of my previous sketches to help me brainstorm new ideas. I re-iderated previous thoughts and considered how those could possibly work into my idea. I went back and thought about what I was trying to solve and why.
The sketches above show my ideation process and my new ideas. I went back to a previous idea of having spheres or globes around the seats. Before, I thought of making the spheres into "pods," but then I decided to have each sphere contain one seat. I thought of how I could make the exterior of the sphere be able to slide behind the chair similar to an armadillo shell. The idea behind this was that one side of the seat could have the sphere around the user, while the other side was open to other users.
Sphereical Seats
Above is the first prototype I made for the spheres. Because it is the first one, it was rather rough aestheticaly. This was mainly for myself to understand how the sphere and the theater chair would work together. This helped me understand the positioin of the chair, how a person could sit in the chair, the excess room in the sphere and other factors.
I looked at different possibilites of how food and drink could be stored during the movie without taking up too much extra space. I took the already existing cup holder and matched that with a "bin" that could hold food such as popcorn or candy. This takes up no extra space than before and is a simple solution for holding food.
Because of the spherical shape, I looked at the idea of each user having their own personal surround sound within their seat. A speaker would be placed at each quadrant of the sphere and the sound waves could then radiate off of the oppositte wall for even more of sound clarity.
To better fit how a person sits whlie watching a movie, the sphere would be angled slightly up at a little less the 45 degrees. This gives the user a better visual of the movie and makes it easier to see over the top of the seat in front of them.
Underneath of the seat lies extra space that can be used to benefit the user. Many times the theater floor is sticky from fountain drinks and theater food, so this allow the user's belongings to be kept off of the floor and placed somewhere safe and secure.
Once the movie has began playing and the lights have been turned off, seeing becomes difficult. If the user is to leave the theater and needs an easy way to remember where they were sitting, each row has their own colored lights. This not only helps with memory, but also visually too. The lights would be placed towards the bottom of the seat so the movie can still be easily viewed and not disturbed by added lighting.
To meet ADA reuirements, handicap accessible chairs will be enlarged spheres that touch the ground. They will be made wide and tall enough to fit a wheel chair inside.
Because a theater is a popular place for children, the booster seats will be redesigned to mimic the spherical theater seats. The back will continue to be in a spherical shape and have padding for the child to sit on. This gives the child their experience and makes watching a movie more comfortable.
The three pictures above show my final prototype. At first, I tried using a solid surface like masonite but the material would not hold its shape. I ended up using 9 guage wire and felt fabric so the exterior could easily fold behind the seat while still keeping its shape. For the chair I simply used foam and covered it with fabric to make it more aesthetically appealing.
Above is an exploded axonometric view. It shows the different features and components of the spherical theater seat.
