 Robert J Morton |
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People today spend a lot of time viewing video programs. It is one of the main activities in most households. Our little love nest home must therefore include a room specifically designed for, and dedicated to, watching visual content. Our love nest home is also a workplace. A workplace in a high technology age needs a room where a couple and visitors can sit to view an audio visual demonstration or hold a group discussion.
The ideal environment and equipment for recreational video viewing are essentially the same as for audio visual demonstrations for work purposes. Since the two activities take place at different times of the day, the same place can be used for both.
Please ignore all preconceived constrains about the shapes and sizes of rooms and houses. The best way to view something together as a small group is to sit in a semicircle. The screen is flat, so those in the middle of the group will get a more direct view of the screen than those at the ends. We need to make it fairer.
Consider a dipole radio antenna. It radiates power in a way that delivers equal signal strength to all points on a circle that touches the middle of the dipole. A dipole is by no means a perfect analogy for viewing a screen, but it is better than nothing. For each person to receive equal illumination from the screen, they must sit around a circle that touches the centre of the screen. An individual's view would however be too oblique if he sat anywhere on the half of the circle closest to the screen. Everybody must therefore sit on the semicircle furthest from the screen, as shown below.
The best size for a high definition television screen for viewing by a group of up to 8 people is 1000 mm wide with an aspect ratio of 16:9. This is the same as the screen installed in the twin den for use with the ideal PCs. The screen is therefore installed in the position shown. A motorised panel hides the screen when the screen is not in use.
The auditorium hosts 2 activities: screen-based viewing and group discussion. To facilitate these activities, 8 chairs are arranged in a semicircle of radius 1250 mm. This semicircle is half of a 2500 mm diameter circle touching the screen at its horizontal mid point. Each chair has a round seat 580 mm diameter well upholstered in leather or soft fabric. The centre point of each seat rests on the semicircle. The back of each chair is similarly upholstered and rounded to fit the round seat. The rounded shape of the chairs enables people to sit with equal comfort while facing either the screen for viewing or the centre of the group for discussing. The space between the rounded backs of the chairs is a continuous upholstered unit that fits snug with the inner wall of the auditorium. The inner diameter of the auditorium is 4100 mm, allowing for a 400 mm thick wall within an external diameter of 4½ metres.
Centred in the 2500 mm diameter circle is a low table of height 460 mm. It is essentially a round table 1250 mm diameter with a 1250 mm radius taken out on the screen side. The resulting corners are rounded to the same curvature as the chair seats. The table has an ideal PC installed within it. The removable top of the ideal PC is part of the table top. The ideal PC is connected by Ethernet to the ideal PC in the twin den. The ideal PC's keyboard and mouse are on the table top. The ideal PC contains internal peripheral devices capable of receiving digital television and radio broadcasts. It also contains drives for up to date 'film' and audio media.
Above the table is a large round collimated skylight. The aperture of the skylight is made continuously variable by a 12-vein camera door. The doorways to the auditorium are 135° apart. Each doorway is 1000 mm wide with double doors which open in either direction.
The auditorium's sound system comprises 4 speakers and a sub woofer. Two speakers are mounted between the doors and the windows. Two more are mounted in the ceiling at the back of the auditorium. The subwoofer is mounted behind the screen.
A dimmable shielded up light mounted behind the screen provide background lighting for viewing. A ring of down lights around the skylight above the table provides full lighting for activities which do not involve the screen.