Alamo Drafthouse Bans Google Glass Use From Its Theaters

The Google Glass face computer is such a new invention and there are so few out in the wild that etiquette and rules haven’t quite caught up yet. Now that any random member of the American public with $1,500 and a tolerance for being stared at can buy the device, rules are cropping up. Like at Alamo Drafthouse, a small chain of movie theaters that has now banned the devices from its theaters.

It’s an important distinction that the devices themselves haven’t been banned. You can wear Glass into the building, while you buy your tickets and food, and even read your e-mail while you wait for the movie to start. However, as soon as the lights go down for the trailers, the device has to come off.

Google Glass is officially banned from @drafthouse auditoriums once lights dim for trailers. ow.ly/i/5QwMQ #MovieManners—

Tim League (@timalamo) June 09, 2014

The Drafthouse also has a strict policy of throwing out people who text during the show, but the decision to ban Glass during movies is an anti-piracy one, not one intended to improve life for other movie-goers, like the texting ban. Glass doesn’t light up, but it can record video, and theater owners and the Motion Picture Association of America are kind of concerned about that. Instead of calling in law enforcement to remove Glass-wearers from the theater, it’s simpler just to ban the device in the first place.

Versions of Glass that integrate with prescription frames are just part of someone’s glasses, which they kind of need in order to watch the movie. A wearer could even forget that the device is there if it’s powered off.

Theater chain bans Google Glass [Ars Technica]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist