Camera Zwo in Saarbrücken goes from no hearing support to Auracast in every screen

Camera Zwo, an independent arthouse cinema in Saarbrücken, now broadcasts the soundtrack of every film over Auracast. All five of its digital screens are covered, from the 49-seat camera 5 to the 156-seat camera 2, a little over 400 seats in all.

What makes it worth noting is what came before. According to the Bluetooth SIG's location profile, Camera Zwo "did not offer an assistive listening system" before Auracast. No loop, no infrared, nothing. The cinema describes itself as the first in Germany with Auracast hearing support in all of its DCI screens.

How it came about

The push came from outside. Soneo Hörgeräte, a hearing aid retailer with four branches in Saarland, introduced the cinema to Auracast; the cinema's own page says this happened at the end of last year, without giving a date.

A trial followed in one of the five screens over several weeks. Soneo handed out vouchers so hearing aid wearers could try it, and the cinema says the feedback was positive throughout. The SIG profile reports that one tester said it was the first time in years she could watch a film without needing help to follow the dialogue, and that many testers came back without a voucher. On the strength of that, the cinema bought four more devices and covered the remaining screens.

The kit

Each screen has its own Opus AuraGate, a French broadcast terminal with mic, line, 100 V and S/PDIF inputs. The SIG lists the job as a DIY installation, and says the units could be mounted outside the auditoriums and still give reliable coverage. That matters for a small venue: no work inside the auditoriums and no specialist installer.

Neither the cinema nor the SIG gives a cost, beyond the SIG calling it "relatively low cost". For scale, AuraGate is listed at US$1,612 by one US retailer.

How to join

Hearing aid wearers pick the screen and set the volume in their hearing aid app. The cinema's compatibility page lists models from Oticon, Philips, ReSound, Beltone and Starkey, with step-by-step notes for some apps, and mentions joining by QR code where an app supports it.

You can also bring your own Auracast headphones; the cinema has tested the Creative Zen Hybrid Pro with an LE Audio Android phone. If you have neither, HUMANTECHNIK earisMAX headphones can be borrowed for the length of the film for €5. If you have not done this before, here is how to join a broadcast. Our venue page has the detail.

Soneo is holding an info day at the cinema on Sunday 8 November, 11:00 to 15:00, where a hearing care professional will answer questions and visitors can try headphones. No booking is needed.

Small venue, different starting point

Compare MOVIX in Japan. There, a multiplex chain had Eyear System install Bettear CASTER transmitters at four sites, alongside the infrared system its cinemas already had, and lends Bettear receivers with neckloops. Auracast was an addition.

At Camera Zwo it is the whole offer. Five transmitters fitted by the cinema itself, a local hearing aid retailer to drive the trial and a €5 headphone loan took a 400-seat independent from no assistive listening at all to every screen covered. That is the opening Auracast gives small venues that never got round to a loop or infrared system: guests bring the receiver in their ears or pocket. Our comparison with loops covers what each approach does well.

The catch is the same as anywhere: guests need Auracast hearing aids or headphones, or the loan set. Our hearing aid guide lists which models can join.