Cool Stuff: Cinera Headset Straps An HD Movie Theater Experience To Your Face

Movie theater attendance has become a problem in recent years due to high ticket prices, poor customer service experiences, and a wealth of entertainment choices from various subscription streaming services. While companies like MoviePass are trying to increase attendance with their own movie ticket subscription plan, one company is trying to make the home theater experience even more enticing.

Cinera started out as a Kickstarter pipe dream to bring a high-definition movie theater experience into your home by way of a headset that uses dual-screen high-resolution technology to put movies right in your face. Now the product is ready to be ordered and shipped this December. But is this a new piece of home theater tech that's worth the money?

Here's the official Cinera headset pitch video from the device's Kickstarter page that launched in July:

The company hit their initial $50,000 goal and then made over five times more that before all was said and done, but that's mostly because their early pledge levels all include the device in question for 50% of what it will cost when it starts selling to the general public. Now the pledge levels that are leftover offer the Cinera at a 42% discount, which still isn't a bad price.

Cinera seems like a good idea in theory, but it doesn't seem like the most sleek way to bring such a high-definition movie theater experience into your home. Sure, it's convenient and significantly cheaper than building a sophisticated home theater, it doesn't exactly look like the most comfortable or desirable viewing experience.

First, there's no indication as to how much the headset itself weighs. Wearing a device like that on your head for an extended period of time can be cumbersome and bad for your neck. That's exactly why they created the burden free arm which takes on the weight for you. But that hardly looks like the best solution. Though it looks easy to move, attaching to the edges of tables, counters etc., I feel like it's not convenient for a comfortable movie-watching experience, especially for those who shift constantly on the couch.

Secondly, if you're using the arm, it doesn't look all the easy to keep your face in the proper position to get the best viewing experience from the headset. Does your face always have to be pressed firmly against the headset or is there some wiggle room for you to sit in a more relaxed way and still get the full effect?

Besides those concerns, Cinera seems like a promising device. The fact that you can utilize popular apps like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Amazon Prime and more with the device makes it particularly enticing. It's not clear how convenient it is to actually hook the device up to your Blu-Ray and DVD players or other external entertainment devices, but that function makes it rather appealing, especially when it comes to playing video games on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

If you want even more in-depth details about Cinera, check out their full Kickstarter page over here.