Mostpeopledon’thavetothinkveryhardaboutgoingtoseethelatestmovieinthetheater,butformillionsofAmericans,thingsaren’tthatsimple.Ifyou’rehearingorvisionimpaired,gettingthenecessaryapparatustoprovideyouwithamplifiedsoundorscenedescriptionscanbearealpain,ifthey’reevenavailabletriton2tank.Activiewisastartupaimingtomakeaccessibilityinmovie-goingassimpleasopeninganapp.Andtokick-starttheventure,it’sgoingtobeavailableforthenation-widedebutofCars3.Theproblemissimplythatthetechnologyusedforaccessibilityhasn’tkeptpacewiththerestoftheworld.Thecustomhardwaresetups,fromestablishedcinemaaudioandinfrastructurecompanies,areclunkyandexpensive;atheatermaypaythousandstogetenoughgeartobeincompliancewithaccessibilitylawsVirtualtoCloudBackup.Andalthoughsometechnicallyinterestingsolutionsexist,likeSony’sclosed-captioningglasses,it’susuallyachoretogetthem—itcantakehalfanhourforthemanagertobefoundandthedevicestobesetup.Andwhileonetheatermayhaveonedevice,anothermayhaveasecond,ornoneatall.Sony’sARsubtitlesareneat,butexpensiveandprettyclunky.Wastherereallynosolutionthatprovideseveryformofaccessiblecontenteasilytoanyonewhoneededit?AlexKorenthinksyouhavethatsolutioninyourpocketalready.“Myphoneissuchalifelineonadailybasis,whycan’tIusethat?”saidKoreninaninterviewwithTechCrunch.“Industryveteransrecognizethis,butitfallsbythewayside.”Thephonecouldshowcaptions,itcouldcarryaudio,multiplelanguages,scenedescriptions,allprovidedfromacentralserverunderthecontrolofthetheater.SoKorenandhisco-founder,BraunShedd,decidedtomakeithappen.TheywerejoinedbyPaulCichocki,whoworkedinpost-productionatPixarfor17years.Butitwasimmediatelyclearthattheycouldn’tjustjumpintoaspacedominatedbyestablishedindustrycompanies.Theaterchainsdidn’twanttogiveaccesstotheirsystems,andstudiosdidn’twanttohandoverrawfilesfortesting.Piracyisaproblem,afterall,andeveniftheydeignedtosendovermasterfilesforanoldfilm,weretheylikelytojustincludeActiviewintheclose-knitcluboftrusteddistributorsandcinemachains?Andbecausedifferentstudiosortheatersusedifferentformatsorsetups(strangeones,thecompanyfoundfromalittlereverseengineering),therewasnoeasyone-size-fits-allwaytogetaudio—untilitleftthesystem,comingoutofthespeakersinawaveform.Earlyattemptstoretransmitthisresultedintwofullsecondsoflatency—unacceptableinatheater.KorenandSheddtooktheproblemhead-on,creatingasuper-low-latencytransmissionprotocoltheycallLightspeedAudioStreamingTechnology.IttransmitssoundoverWi-Fiwithalmostnobufferingatall,morelikeananalogtransmissionthananything.(Thedetailsareatradesecret,ofcourse,butit’sexplainedinabitmoredetailhere.)AllthetheaterneedsisaboxthesizeofalargebookthatplugsintotheirAVsystemandgeneratesthewirelessnetwork.Alltheuserneedsisanapp,inwhichtheycanselecttheirmovieandwhatcontenttheyneed:scenedescriptionsforvisuallyimpaired,amplifiedaudioand/orsubtitlesforthehearingimpaired,otherlanguages,evensignlanguage.There’salsoaflexiblecupholdermountthatholdsyourphoneinplaceandblocksthelightsoitdoesn’tbotherotherpeople.That’sstillmucheasiertodeploythanabattery-poweredARsubtitlingheadset.Thetheaterwouldpayfortheinstallationofthebox(acouplehundredbucks)andthenpayperuse,almostcertainlysavingmoneyandtimeoverthealternatives.Aprototypeofthewi-fiboxandafewcupholdermounts.NeedthejobtogettheexperiencetogetthejobOfcourse,youcan’tjustwaltzintothenationalcinemaworld,evenifyoursystemiscool.Butyouneedtoproveyourselfinthenationalcinemaworldforanyonetoconsideryourplatformtobeginwith.Tobreakthiscyclecommonlyencounteredbystartups,thecompanyfirstpartneredwithacouplesmalltheatersintheBayArea.Therethedevelopersreceivedfeedbackandclearedoutbugs.Peopleusingitdefinitelylikeit,Korensaid.Andthroughtheirindustryconnections,theygainedaudienceswiththemajorstudiosandtheaterchains.ButthebigbreakcamewhenPixardecidedtogivethetechashot.ItnodoubtmadeitswaythroughthegrapevinethatCichokiwasworkingonActiview,andKorentoldmethataPixaremployeewithapersonalinterestinassistingthevisuallyimpairedbroughtitupinternally.Aftersomenegotiation,PixarconsentedtoallowActiviewtosupportCars3atitsdebut—atleastwithamplifiedaudioandscenedescriptions.It’snotanofficialpartnershiporanything,butPixarisdefinitelytakingastepotherstudioshaven’tyet.“Ifthisallgoeswell,we’llbeabletomakeacaseformoremovies.Foreverydownloadoftheapp,wemakeabettercasetoHollywoodthatthisisworthit,”saidKoren.Thislarge-scalerolloutcouldbethebreakActiviewneedsbothtogainexposureandprovethatthesystemworks.Unfortunately,thisfirstmajorexerciseofthesystemwon’thavefullsubtitlesorASL,sincePixardidn’tprovidedthem(yet,anyway).Butthosearefarmoresimpletoimplementandhavealreadybeenshowninsmallertheaters,sodeaffolksdon’tneedtoworry—theyhaven’tbeenforgotten.Infact,theapp(designedtobeaccessibleitself,naturally)alertsnewusersthattheycanexpecttheseothertracksinfeaturestocome.AbroaderaccessibilityplatformWhilemoviesareanobviousplayforthiskindofaccessibilitytech,Activiewiskeentotakeonmoremedialater.“Moviesarejustthefirstplacewe’regoing,”Korensaid.“Weimagineaworldwherebasketballandbaseballgames,andlivetheaterareallaccessiblelikethis.”Thestrategyissimplytoshowthatyes,infact,therearemillionsofvisuallyandhearingimpairedpeoplewhoreallywanttopayforticketsbutaren’tbeingaccommodated.Andbymakingtheabilitytoaccommodatethemeasyandaffordable,nooneisleftoutoneithersideofthebargain.Partoftheplanistobringthecontenttothecloud,aswell(youdidn’tthinkweweregettingthroughathousandwordswithoutsaying“cloud,”didyou?)—becauseActiviewalsoaimstobeanaccessibilityoptionforwhenyou’rewatchingmoviesandTVathome.CompanieslikeNetflixmightofferaccessibilitytrackslikescenedescriptionsforitsownshows,butthat’sbynomeanstherule.Arelativelycheapsubscriptionservice(thinkaround3amonth,orperhapsfreemium)wouldprovideusersaccesstoafulllibraryofclosedcaptioning,ASLaccompaniment,andotheroptions.Asafinalincentive,therearenewregulationstakingeffectin2018thatintroducemorestringentrequirementsfortheaters:they’llneedaudiodescriptionsandclosedcaptioningaswellasbasicassistivelisteningapparatus.ItjustsohappensthatActiviewprovidescompliancewiththoserequirementsforconsiderablylessthanotheroptionsonthemarket—andsinceit’sasoftwareplatform,itcanbeupdatedtoreflectnewregulationsoroffernewservices.Soiftheprospectsofhelpingpeople,savingmoney,andincreasingticketsalesdon’ttickleaparticulartheater’sfancy,perhapstheopportunitytonotbeinviolationofdisabilityregulationswill!ApartfrommakingitspublicdebutwithCars3,Activiewisraisingmoney.Thecompanyraised225Kfromacollectionofangelinvestorsinthemediaandaccessibilityspace,includingMikeWhite,formerCEOofDirecTVandSanFrancisco’sLighthousefortheBlind.Nowthegoalis1.5million,whichwillhelppayformanufacturingthevariouspieces—designedinternallyandreadytobuild,itshouldbeadded—andstaffingthecompanyasitgrowstowardsitsnextchallenge.Korenisconfident:“I’vebeensuperhappywithourinvestorsandwe’reconfidentitwon’tbeastretchtoraise,”hesaid.It’samodestamounttoaskforthesedays,especiallyforahardwarestartup,butthepotentialistheretobeamajorcompany—andmoreimportantly,tohavearealpositiveeffectongroupsthatarefrequentlyforgottenbySiliconValley’svauntedinnovators.Activiewshouldbeavailablefordownloadverysoon;andtrytellingyourlocaltheateraboutit—itmayverywellbeexactlywhatthey’vebeenwaitingfor.