Picture this: You’re sitting in La Premiere, watching the latest superhero blockbuster on the big screen. Just as the superhero in question is about to be pummelled by the bad guy, you have a sudden and irrepressible craving for a choc top. Do you leave the movie to satisfy your hunger, missing the key action sequence? Or do you suffer through until the movie shifts to the unavoidable romance subplot? The answer is neither, thanks to a new technology being trialled by Mastercard, Commbank and Hoyts.
Dubbed QkR, the pilot is being trialled at La Premiere Hoyts cinemas at Westfield Chatswood and The Entertainment Quarter in Sydney. Customers can download the QkR app for either Android or iOS. The app then offers three ways to order snacks – by scanning a QR code with your smartphone’s camera, by using an NFC-enabled device next to a QR code or by manually entering the unique scan code.
It’s not exactly clear how the QR codes will be displayed in the cinema, although given it includes the option to order a complete meal, I’d assume they would be on a customised menu located at every seat. Each QR code would have to be unique for each seat as well, so hopefully the menus will be fixed in place so you don’t end up buying a choc-top for the douche at the back of the theatre talking on his phone.
While it seems like a pretty cool use of technology to streamline the ordering and payment system, it’s still only a trial, and probably won’t be rolled out in the long term for a while yet. But anything that helps make my phone a wallet-replacement is okay by me…
Chris
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:39 AMThere’s one major issue with this from the get go: scanning means the person’s phone lighting up the whole cinema. I know I hate that, and I’m pretty certain others do, too.
Dionysus
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:58 AMYes a 4” screen will definitely out shine the cinema projector.
Josh
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 1:57 PMIt won’t outshine it (what a weird thing to say) but it will annoy the hell out of whoever is behind that orderer.
InformedGamer
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 4:24 PMQR scanner will require light… In a dark cinema… Give you one guess how they get the QR scanner to work in the dark, and it’s not using the front screen of the phone
Macca
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:40 AMencouraging people to use their mobile phone during a movie… SEEMS LIKE A GREAT IDEA O_o
Shane
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:45 AM+1
Can’t wait to see all the arrests over that idea?!?!
light487
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:44 AMWouldn’t it be better to have your card swiped when you are at the ticket counter, like when you go to a hotel, and then have a little device in the chair’s armrest to make orders? I mean, it’s not like you get to choose more than the preset things they have available.. and since the seat is numbered, they’d know where to bring more easily.. there wouldn’t be people pulling out their phones at weird moments and so on..
MotorMouth
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 10:45 AMYeah, patrons around you are gonna love being distracted by your phone’s screen. Its just one more reason not to go to the movies.
Seriously, I decided last year that I would never see a movie in 3D again and after a few months I realised that going to the movies at all was an expensive experience that has as many downsides as upsides. Now I just wait for the ex-rental DVD. Last week I got Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Captain America and The Adjustment Bureau for the price of two movie tickets. I had wanted to see all three at the cinema but never found time. Now I can watch them at my convenience.
OK, its not quite the same big screen experience but I get DVD extras for free and I don’t have to go to the effort of finding out sessions times, buying tickets on line, queuing up to collect them or anything else. I can sit wherever I like, watch whenever I like and pause the movie if I need to go to the dunny. And I don’t even have a massive TV or home theatre, just a 23″ wall mounted flatscreen that is hooked into my stereo.
Of course, there will always be some things worth seeing on the big screen but only one or two movies a year. A few years ago I was going to the movies every week (but there were a lot more good movies being made then).
rninne
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:03 AMNot interested, until they can figure out how to bring the loo to you!
I say bring back the intermission. I went to see the muppets the other day and I feel sorry for the kids and parents who have to skip out for a bathroom break.
light487
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:10 AMYer.. the intermission was an integral part of the movie going experience… I saw a solar eclipse during an intermission once.. :) It was pretty cool.. but my fondest memories of movie going are back when they had intermissions where you could take a break from themovie, socialise a bit and talk about what’s happened and stretch your legs etc.. then go back and watch the rest of the movie..
MotorMouth
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:27 PMThey used to have intermission because they showed more than just one film. Intermission was almost always before the main feature, so nothing has really changed here, except that you pay more to get less (but even that is the norm these days).
light487
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 2:51 PMHrmm.. the cinema I used to watch at, when I was a kid, had the intermission in the middle of the main feature. There was always the little short film, usually a cartoon, at the beginning.. like Pixar does with its films.. and then the main feature, then a 10 to 15 minute intermission (presumably to change the reels on the projector) and then the rest of the main feature.
Big Windows
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 4:43 PMYep… Same for me… Used to shit me to tears… Now I look back on it fondly… 10 minutes and a bit of a recharge… Would have worked a treat during lord of the rings.
MDolley
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:18 AMWindows Phone users like popcorn too :(
MotorMouth
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:29 PMSure but most of us are smart enough to make sure we have those bases covered before we go in. We’re also less impulsive, which is why we made a more informed choice of phone OS.
cleverclogs
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:58 PMWMPoweruser says we have a higher IQ too, I guess it might be true, I’ll be Dr Cleverclogs someday soon.
Peter
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:26 AMI thought the gold class and La Premiere had intermissions? Or maybe they only do it for long movies.
I can imagine using this before the movie starts, or during the intermission to avoid the rush at the bar. But overall, it’s not too hard to get off your arse and order a drink.
This would be better for a sports game. Scan your seat and order a hotdog, beer and chips. Instead of missing the game and having to wait in a long time, Actually they would sell a lot more. And if they can’t afford to pay people to bring your food to you, just have a notification returned to you when you food is ready to be picked-up.
Big Windows
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 4:45 PMWith you on the sports thing… Clever. Did cinemas not also try showing sporting events in 3D… Wasn’t the NRL final in cinemas…
Max
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:39 AMOh for fuck’s sake, we already have too many people checking their phone during the movie. I won’t be going to any cinema that implements this.
Max
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:40 AMFurthermore, this means we’ll have noisy eaters throughout the entire movie, rather than just the first 10-20 minutes. No thanks.
MotorMouth
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:30 PMGood point, I used to always try and finish my packet of chips before the feature started.
Tom
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:16 PMalso, how do you propose the buyer gets the delivery? I sure as muck am not going to be passnig along choc pops and pop corn to the guy 5 seats along. get stuffed.
this is a FAIL idea
Adam
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:57 PMyou all need to read the article in more detail – this is for the gold class and la premiere theaters where food is already delivered to the people watching. There is only about 40 seats and so passing a choc top is not an issue. Talk about a bunch of negative old farts, you sound like you never leave your own home except to buy the latest star trek film or xbox game.
MDolley
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 1:00 PMIt’s only for a certain type of theatre, not all of them. If La Premiere is anything like Gold Class the seats are all easily accessible
Matty
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:51 PMGreat – more people using their mobile phones while I’m trying to concentrate on the screen. It’s not that the small screens outshine the large one, but they definitely distract a lot.
Oh, and do people think it’s a great idea that lots of people will have to run up and down the stairs to deliver that stuff? Great for those tense moments in a movie…
Colin Daly
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 1:09 PMWho thought this bad implementation would work? Why would you choose one of those places where mobile phones are a no-no, to launch a ‘new’ convenience technology.
Someone developer house has earned a lot of money putting this together only for it to fall flat before it’s even started. It is no wonder marketing departments get a bad name.
smurfydog
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:17 PMI reckon this might work out well for them.
I had my first experience of a “Gold Class” cinema thingy only a few months ago. It was pricy, but pretty good.
Before the film started we had our own lounge shared with other
‘gold classers’, where we were offered drinks and food while we waited, and asked if we wanted any drinks or food brought to us during the film. We had an option to choose what we wanted brought to us at want point during the film – closer to the beginning, middle or end of the film.
The film was OK, but ultimitely forgettable. The experience , however, was fantastic! The delivery of food and drinks to ourselves and others during the movie really didn’t pose much of an interruption.
After staying away from mainstream cinemas for the last 10 years or so, I’ll be rethinking that decision now, finances permitting.
(Although I still much prefer some of the older cinemas in Melbourne like the Astor, or the Cameo in Belgrave.)
Motorhead
Monday, March 19, 2012 at 10:53 AMI used it for the first time on the weekend just as an excuse to use the NFC on my gnex and it worked flawlessly. I tapped my phone on my arm rest and the menu came up on my screen, tick off what you want and a minute later its delivered to your seat.