Pop-up cinema powered by users’ smartphones

Aaron Jones' YouTube Theater capitalizes on ever improving wireless coverage by playing internet videos from its users' smartphones.

No sooner had the virtual ink dried on our article about one pop-up cinema than we caught wind of another venture. Aaron Jones’ outdoor YouTube Theater is designed to capitalize on ever improving wireless coverage by playing internet videos from its users’ smartphones. According to a designboom report the cinema was originally installed on the Cranbrook Academy of Art campus before being moved to become a permanent fixture on the site of an old garage in Detroit. Jones claims the 500sq foot cinema, built from shaped galvanized-steel fence pipes, “is based on the assumption that the Internet can potentially deliver entertainment and information into any place, even a neighborhood that may be overlooked or discounted.” Those wishing to view streamed footage within the structure simply plug their smartphone into a receiver which projects the image onto the display screen (which can be rolled up when no film is showing) while audio is played out of the built-in sound system. The steel tubes hide the wiring used to make the cinema run, and, according to a report on Fast Company’s Co.Design, the installation can be constructed in about one day. Of course, as we saw with Rippamedia, it’s possible for venues to empower visitors with creative control even when they aren’t equipped with a smartphone. How long until other venues start opening up to let their patrons control the on-site media in more creative ways?