Cinema hopes to offer subtitle 'smart glasses'

The "smart glasses" provide personalised subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers

A cinema is hoping to become one of the first in the country to offer "smart glasses" to filmgoers with impaired hearing.

Saffron Screen in Saffron Walden, Essex, is an independent not-for-profit cinema based within the grounds of the town's secondary school.

It has launched a "sponsor a seat" fundraiser to raise £5,000 to buy the technology and glasses.

Paul Willmott, the chair of Saffron Screen, said: "It's a brand new system and we'll be one of the first in the country to use it."

"It will enable people who are hard of hearing to see subtitles on a pair of glasses that they wear and means they'll be able to come and watch almost any film and get subtitles," he said.

The glasses are designed to be worn over normal spectacles, and alongside hearing aids and cochlear implant processors.

The captions appear on the lens of the glasses, making it possible to watch films and read captions without having to look away from the screen and miss out on any of the action.

Jason Bond, the cinema's business manager, said: "We firmly believe that cinema should be accessible for all and these glasses will greatly increase the film choices available to our deaf and hard of hearing audiences."