China's Theatres Zapping Cell Phone Users With Laser Beams

"It's usually only a small fraction of the audience that we have to deal with," Wang Chen, an employee at the Shanghai Grand Theater tells the New York Times. "They can't help themselves. So we try to give them a gentle reminder, so they know what they're doing."

That gentle reminder is a zap with a laser beam, an increasingly common practice at China's theatres and performance centers.

Ushers equipped with laser pointers are stationed above, or on the perimeter of, the audience. When they see the light of a cell phone in use, they avoid a disturbing direct confrontation by flashing a red or green pointer at the screen until the offender gets the point.

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