I think its a great play by Dolby. Hook one large OEM manufacturer and it becomes a me too technology. Dolby has to stay relevant and ahead of its competitors. I see plenty of bitchin about Bose being nothing more than a great marketing company, well that can be said about Dolby as well. When ATMOS first came out for theaters it made a lot of sense to me but when the home version was announced I am having reservations.
There is only so much you can do with a small space that most of us have to work with in our homes. Not everything scales down well in audio. Music needs room to breathe and commercial theaters have that room. Larger spaces need more speakers but does a smaller room really need more than we already have. Even at work our crappy stereo has a fullness you just cant get in a small room. I agree with the people who believe this will be for the 1% that have large home theater spaces.
If they would release the specs of the requirements of the overhead speakers that would help a lot of people decide if it is viable. The speakers that pioneer is using for reflection are quite small , so if that carries over for in ceiling speakers it may be doable.
