New Bristol cinema will measure audience reactions

The 150 sqm cinema will be one of the most innovative in the world

A state-of-the-art cinema will monitor audience reactions "like never before".

Instrumented Auditorium, considered one of the world's most innovative cinemas, will open in Bristol in 2024.

It will record audiences' biometric responses, including their heart rate, eye movement and brain activity as they react to what is on the screen.

Iain Gilchrist, Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol, said it would provide "unique insights" into content creation.

The 36-person cinema will open at the MyWorld creative hub at The Coal Shed in St Phillips, using a £400,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation.

It will be equipped with cutting-edge equipment to record data on how audiences react to the content they are watching and hearing.

As well as monitoring their heart rate, eye movement and brain activity, researchers will also observe the electrical properties of people's skin to "gauge their subconscious emotional and sympathetic responses".

The cinema will be part of the University of Bristol's new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus

Prof Gilchrist said: "If we want to understand whether a new experience or new technology is working, we [currently] have to ask the audience.

"The Instrumented Auditorium will allow us to stream data that captures audience responses moment by moment, providing unique insights that take us way beyond current questionnaire-based methods."

"This is the first fully-instrumented facility of its kind in the world, which is exciting not just for us as researchers, but for those working in the creative sector, providing insights which will shape the future of film, television and beyond."

MyWorld is a creative technology research and innovation hub, led by the University of Bristol in partnership with 12 other organisations including Bristol Old Vic, Watershed, Aardman Animations, the BBC and BT.