Domed image theatre

Abstract: The dome theater (1) includes at least one compartment (3) having a front window (2), with or without glass (9), through which a domed image on a concave surface (12) in front of the compartment (3) can be viewed by a spectator or spectators in the compartment (3). The image may be projected on the surface (12) or may be reproduced on image producing apparatus of a dome shape, e.g. a liquid crystal display (19) or an array of television picture tubes (28).

Description: The present invention relates to an enclosed theater in which a wide-angle image projected on a concave screen or produced by display apparatus arranged in a concave configuration can be shown. Conventional wide-angle image producing systems have mainly been applied to all-sky optical projectors such as planetariums. Recently, they are used as large scale motion picture projectors and may be constructed exclusively or along with planetarium systems, forming dome theaters. Such a dome theater has been developed as based on a planetarium system, thus having some disadvantages in the term of visibility. When the dome theater is tilted at an optimum angle of 35°, the audience or spectators have to turn and keep their faces upward with great effort. For easing the effort, reclining chairs may be employed. However, the reclining chairs are relatively large in size, thus decreasing the number of the spectators for a given floor space. If the concave screen is tilted to a higher angle, the seating floor has to be tipped proportionally. It is known that the floor slope for installation of seats should be at a maximum of 35° to conform to applicable laws. The tilt of the screen is required not to exceed the maximum angle. The higher the tilting angle of the seating floor, the easier the spectators can watch the screen. However, the highly tilted floor allows the spectators to reach their seats with much difficulty and will thus be disadvantageous in safety and, particularly, unfavorable in the case of emergency evacuation. Actually, some spectators may feel fear when standing and looking down on the floor slope of 35°. Most of the conventional dome theaters hence have a floor slope of not more than 30°. There is a multi-floor seating structure composed of an array of spectator compartments. In common, most of such multi-floor structures are prepared as complementary facilities with minor equipment and often have three or less floors. As understood, a majority of the conventional dome theaters are tipped at a very small angle near horizontal and are rarely accompanied with such a multi-floor seating structure. In common, traditional theaters or cinemas including concave screen facilities are designed for allowing a large number of spectators to stay together in a limited space, thus prohibiting substantially chattering, drinking, eating, or leaving during the display or projection of images. Also, as the distance from the concave screen is varied depending on the location of a seat in a viewing area, the spectators in the front seats may find difficult to view the full screen. In general, the concave screen is large and used to display a motion picture. The motion picture films are however, inadequate for editing or modifying and they are not interactive. For eliminating the foregoing drawback, the use of large sized video projectors has been developed. Even if the quality and brightness of images produced by such projectors are accepted, the installation of the large sized projectors creates another problem. In fact, no obstruction is allowed between the screen and the projector. It would be understood that traditional theaters are strictly classified into an image producing facility such as a cinema and an auditorium such as an opera house or a music hall. The conventional dome theaters which provide high quality images also pay less attention to plays and music . Although advanced visual effecting systems including laser devices have been employed for producing top-notch lighting effects in opera houses and music halls, they are hardly comparable to today's state-of-art image producing systems. In other words, facilities which simultaneously provide a quality screen image, a stage play, and a rich sound have unsuccessfully been introduced and new art styles exploiting the three different media are not known. As apparent, the traditional theaters allow their stages to be divided by old fashioned curtains and decorated with classic scenery settings for simulating dramatic backgrounds. Such traditional scenery settings and curtains are, however, limitative to produce possible visual effects. Only some of the audience, mainly seated near the front, may enjoy those effects. Also, fabrication of the scenery settings and curtains involves consumption of much labor and time. In addition, the scenery settings and curtains have to be replaced with different ones after an act of play is ended or transported from one theater to another, increasing the cost of labor. It would be desirable to be able to provide an improved theater which produces highly realistic, panoramic effects of an image by eliminating the foregoing disadvantages of conventional dome theaters and overcoming the substantial problems of common theaters. It would also be desirable to be able to provide a theater having a plurality of spectator compartments arranged horizontally and vertically in an array so that one or more spectators in each compartment can view an image projected on a concave screen or reproduced on display apparatus arranged in a concave configuration without concerning other spectators as are seated in front. The present invention provides an enclosed theater as set forth in the claims. It will be understood by reading carefully the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are illustrative and are not to be limitative of the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of a compartment; Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the compartment; Figs. 7 to 9 are explanatory views showing a second embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 10 to 12 are explanatory views showing a third embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 13 to 15 are explanatory views showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 16 to 18 are explanatory views showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 19 to 21 are explanatory views showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 22 to 24 are explanatory views showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention; and Figs. 25 to 27 are explanatory views showing an eighth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail, referring to the accompanying drawings. Figs. 1 to 6 illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a theater comprises a dome housing X and a compartment building Y. The compartment building Y of the theater 1 has a plurality of compartments 3 arranged horizontally and vertically in an array, each of which has a window 2 provided in the front thereof. The dome housing X contains a wide-angle concave image producing system 4 disposed therein in front of the windows 2 of the compartments 3. Also, passages 5 are provided in the compartments building Y for access to the compartments 3. The compartments 3 may be different in size, ranging from pair use to full-floor use. The compartments 3 are arrayed so that radially outer ones are set forward from inner ones as starting from the center of the array. Each of the compartment 3 may be furnished with chairs 6, a table 7, and a karaoke set 8, as shown. The front window 2 of the compartment 3 may be furnished with or without a transparent plate 9 made of, e.g., acrylic or glass material. Also, an entrance 11 with a door 10 is arranged in the back of the compartment 3. The image producing system 4 comprises a concave screen 12 disposed to cover the front of the compartments 3, a projector 13 mounted in the center of the compartment array for projecting an image on the screen 12, and loud speakers 14 allocated to the compartments 3 for producing sound synchronized with the image. The passages 5 include corridors 15 on each floor, stairways 16, 17 arranged at both ends of the corridors 15 for leading one floor to another, and elevators 18, for ease of movement of the spectators. In the action of the theater 1, the wide-angle image projected by the projector 13 on the concave screen 12 can be viewed through the windows 2 of their respective compartments 3. As the image on the screen 12 is well spaced from the windows 2 of the compartments 3, it produces a panoramic and realistic effect. Other embodiments of the present invention will now be described referring to Figs. 7 to 27. Throughout the drawings of the embodiments, like components are denoted by like numerals as of the first embodiment and will be explained in no more detail. Figs. 7 to 9 illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the first embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4 is replaced with another like system 4A. The image producing system 4A comprises a concave liquid crystal display 19 and an AV unit 25 including a double cassette player 20 for reproducing an image to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 19, video players 21, a video selector 22, a mixer 23, and an amplifier 24. A video player 21 may play tapes, discs, or other recording media. A theater 1A with the image producing system 4A according to the second embodiment will provide the same effects as of the first embodiment. Figs. 10 to 12 show a third embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the first embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4 is replaced with another like system 4B which includes a quarter-spherical concave screen 12A. In addition, a stage 26 and a staircase-type seating area 27 are provided in a combination under the screen 12A. A theater 1B with the image producing system 4B according to the third embodiment will provide the same effects as of the first embodiment while being increased in its versatility. Figs. 13 to 15 illustrate a fourth embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the first embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4 is replaced with rows of like systems 4C. While the compartments 3 are aligned in two rows on both sides of the passage 5, their windows 2 face the image producing systems 4C respectively. A theater 1C with the multiple concave image producing systems 4C according to the fourth embodiment will provide the same effects as of the first embodiment while different images can concurrently be distributed to their respective compartments 3. According to this embodiment, each of the compartments 3 may be exploited as a theater model. Figs. 16 to 18 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the fourth embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4C is replaced with another like system 4D which includes a concave screen 12B. The screen 12B has a flat portion in the center. A theater 1D with the concave screens 12B according to the fifth embodiment will provide the same effects as of the fourth embodiment. Figs. 19 to 21 illustrate a sixth embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the fourth embodiment by the fact that the concave image producing system 4C is replaced with a further like system 4E which comprises a concave liquid crystal display 19A and a video player 21 for reproducing an image on the liquid crystal display 19A. A theater 1E with the liquid crystal displays 19A according to the sixth embodiment will provide the same effects as of the fourth embodiment. Figs. 22 to 24 show a seventh embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the fourth embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4C is replaced with a further like system 4F. The concave image producing system 4F comprises a multiplicity of monitor television picture tubes 28 arranged in a concave configuration and an AV unit 25 including a double cassette player 20, video players 21, a video selector 22, a mixer 23, and an amplifier 24. A theater 1F with the arrayed monitor television picture tubes 28 according to the seventh embodiment will provide the same effects as of the fourth embodiment. Figs. 25 to 27 illustrate an eighth embodiment of the present invention which is distinguished from the fourth embodiment by the fact that the image producing system 4C is replaced with a further like system 4G which has a larger screen 12C enough to cover the front of more than one (namely two in this embodiment) of the compartments 3. A theater 1G with the concave image producing systems 4G according to the eighth embodiment will provide the same effects as of the fourth embodiment. As set forth above, the advantages of the present invention are as follows: (1) As the image producing system is placed in the front of the windows of the compartments which are arranged horizontally and vertically in an array and provided at the back with passages for access thereto, spectators can easily watch an image projected on the screen through the windows of their compartments. The compartments allow the spectators to relax and enjoy the watching as they are isolated from the others. Also, the access to the compartments is eased and will hardly disturb any other audience. (2) The concave screen provides a wide-angle image through the windows of the compartments, thus making the image highly realistic and more panoramic. (3) Each compartment is isolated from the other compartments, allowing the spectators to drink, eat, or chat without disturbing the other audience and may be utilized as a restaurant, tea, or karaoke room. (4) The compartments are so allocated as to have substantially equal viewing conditions, thus contributing to the optimum use of the viewing space. (5) According to the fourth to eighth embodiments, the compartments are intended to be more identical in the viewing condition to each other while ensuring the advantages set out in the paragraphs (1) to (4).

Claims: An enclosed theater comprising: a plurality of compartments (3) arranged as an array extending horizontally and vertically, each compartment (3) having a front window (2); an image producing system (4) for providing a concave wide-angle image in front of the window (2) of each compartment (3), allowing a spectator in the compartment (3) to view the wide-angle image through the window (2); and passages (5) provided at the back of the compartments (3) for access to the compartments. A theater as claimed in claim 1, wherein the compartments (3) are so arranged that radially outer ones with respect to the center of the array are set forward from radially inner ones. A theater as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the image producing system (4) comprises a concave screen (12) and a projector (13) for projecting a wide-angle image on the screen (12). A theater as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the image producing system (4A) comprises a liquid crystal display (19) of a concave shape and audio-visual apparatus (25) for reproducing a wide-angle image on the liquid crystal display. A theater as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the image producing system (4F) comprises a multiplicity of television picture tubes (28) arranged together in a concave configuration and audio-visual apparatus (25) including a video player or players (21) for reproducing a wide-angle image on the concave configuration of the picture tubes (28). A theater according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the passages (5) comprise corridors (15) for access to the compartments (3), and stairways leading from one corridor (15) to another, and, optionally, elevators (18) for carrying spectators from one horizontal level to another. A theater comprising: one or more compartments (3), each having a front wall comprising a window (2); and an image producing system (4;4A; 4B; 4C; 4D; 4E; 4F; 4G) covering the front wall or walls of the one or more compartments, for producing a concave wide-angle image in front of the one or more compartments (3) so that a spectator in the or each compartment (3) can view the wide-angle image through the window (2). A theater as claimed in claim 7, wherein the image producing system (4; 4B; 4C; 4D; 4G) comprises a concave screen (12; 12A; 12B; 12C) and a projector (13) for projecting a wide-angle image on the screen. A theater according to claim 7, wherein the image producing system (4A;4E) comprises a liquid crystal display (19;19A) of a concave shape and audio-visual apparatus (25;21) for reproducing a wide-angle image on the liquid crystal display. A theater as claimed in claim 7, wherein the image producing system (4F) comprises a multiplicity of television picture tubes (28) arranged together in a concave configuration and audio-visual apparatus (25) including a video player or players (21) for reproducing a wide-angle image on the concave configuration of the picture tubes (28).

Inventors: HAYASHI MASAHIKO, HAYASHI, MASAHIKO
Applicants: HAYASHI MASAHIKO, HAYASHI, MASAHIKO
Application year: 1995
Main classification: E04H3
IPC codes: E04H3, G09B9, G10K15