Apple's Latest Movie Trailer Innovation Suggests The Future Of Premium Home Viewing

Now that we're a century and change into the existence of motion pictures, the novelty of movies has all but worn off. To be clear, the power of cinema has not waned; despite what some might say, the fact that films are still as popular and as talked about as they are speaks to how much malleability, diversity, and reach the medium still possesses. Yet the business of movies is undeniably in flux, with the advent of streaming pushing movie theaters into a corner in a fashion similar to the rise of television in the 1950s. The cinema's answer to this problem has been prioritizing large format screens, like IMAX, and various other engaging gimmicks, such as Screen X and 4DX.

Generally, there's been no need for home entertainment to try and adopt a similar approach to innovative viewing methods. That hasn't stopped some companies from trying; in addition to bonus features on physical media intended to give fans and students of film a deeper appreciation for a movie, there have been some attempts to make home viewing a premium experience. There was the big 3D TV craze of the 2010s, of course. Sony Home Entertainment tried to entice casual viewers to buy a Blu-Ray disc and watch a film with "MovieIQ," which provided real-time facts and IMDb-like cast & crew information, something similar to Prime Video's "X-Ray" function. Yet none of these gimmicks have been interesting enough to be a draw in and of themselves; beyond offering as pristine and immersive a sound and picture as possible, home media has been mostly straightforward in its presentation.

However, Apple just introduced a technology that could become a premium personal viewing option, the home equivalent of buying a ticket to IMAX or Dolby Cinema. Earlier this week, the tech giant dropped what they're calling a "haptic trailer" for the upcoming Warner Bros./Apple Original Films movie "F1," and it's a feature that is designed to only work on smartphones. Yet it might be enticing enough that it could establish interest in having a more active personal viewing experience for films in the future.

Unlike the more involved and harder to succinctly explain formats of Screen X and 4DX, the haptic trailer is fairly simple. While the trailer unfolds, the iPhone buzzes in conjunction with the action occurring on the screen. During the moments of high-speed Formula 1 racing, this involves a buzzing that goes along with the roar of the race car engines, or perhaps a swift swerve or two. Of course, during dialogue sequences between Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), and the other characters, there's very little buzzing, but that only serves to put the moments of tangible interaction in starker relief. This haptic trailer appears to utilize the tech that's already a part of most smartphones — the buzz whenever one gets a text message or important notification — and just doubles down on it, the input from the commands encoded within the trailer telling the phone when and how long to buzz for.

This technology is hardly new, per se. Haptic technology was first developed for large aircraft in order to help pilots know when they may be close to dangerous flight conditions. The tech then found application in the video game industry, beginning as early as 1976 with the Sega arcade game "Moto-Cross." Eventually, haptic feedback (also known as force feedback) began to appear in home gaming consoles, as seen with the "Rumble Pak" extension for the Nintendo 64. Ever since then, every major game console has employed some form of force feedback in its controllers, to the point where it's a standard feature. This has extended to games for the smartphone, too.

Haptic feedback isn't new to cinema, either, as the company D-BOX has existed to provide similar experiences with movie watching since 2009. Initially an in-cinema experience, D-BOX expanded to integrate its technology in places like theme parks and racing simulations while providing versions of their motion tech seats for home use. Just look at most Blu-Ray menus (especially for films released by Universal Pictures) and you'll likely see an option to enable D-BOX for those who own a seat at home. The big difference with Apple's haptic trailer is that it's utilizing a function that already exists within all iPhones (all one needs to do is update their iOS) and is already familiar as a handheld experience to millions of people.

So while the tech to make this haptic trailer for "F1" isn't anything new, its application certainly is. As a marketing tool, its implementation could be cause for more engagement; after all, the viewing of a movie trailer has become so ubiquitous online that most YouTube videos open with one begging for you to sit through it, so here's a way that watching a trailer could feel more like an event and less like a nuisance. Yet the possibilities go beyond that, as it's now entirely possible for Apple and other VOD vendors to offer haptic versions of their movies or shows for purchase or rental. In the same way that seeing a big new blockbuster in IMAX or Dolby is worth the extra money in the theater, people looking to watch something on their phone might indeed want to spring for a more immersive experience.

The question of whether this might allow VOD or home viewing to further compete with (re: take audiences away from) going to a movie theater is mostly inert. Quite frankly, there's no comparison between watching a movie with this haptic experience and watching it in 70mm IMAX film, so those already interested in having a richer, larger, and more unique experience in a movie theater won't be swayed by a force feedback option. The potential is there for this tech to spur more options and innovation when it comes to home viewing, however. Will other companies seek out similar concepts of immersion? Will haptic tech be integrated into streaming as well (and should it)? Who knows, but for now, it certainly seems like a possibility (if not a likelihood) that "F1" might not only be available to watch in full IMAX ratio later this month, but might later be available on your phone this year with its own unique experience to offer. Both options are offering you the experience to feel some semblance of what it might be like to be behind the wheel of a race car, and we'll have to wait and see what else might be around the bend.