motion simulator
Latest
You'll soon be able to turn your sofa into a 4D theme park ride
Buzz Lightyear is tearing around on his jetpack in Toy Story 2, but I'm not watching passively. Every time he banks left, my chair banks left. When he accelerates and climbs, I tilt back. When he finally touches down on a strange planet, my seat drops with a bump. No, I'm not at a theme park or "4D"-equipped theater -- I'm sitting on a couch. Specifically, I'm at the Paris headquarters of Immersit, a company that wants to turn your trusty sofa into an honest-to-Dieu ride simulator. I got to take a spin on its latest prototype, and spoiler: It was pretty cool. But would anybody be willing to pay the price of a decent laptop to get 4D at home?
Universal Motion Simulator: real enough to evoke panic (video)
A fighter sim just isn't realistic unless it makes you throw up and scream for your mother, which is why the sadistic folks at Australia's Deakin University created the Universal Motion Simulator. It's a barebones cockpit attached to the end of a seven-meter robotic arm that can pull up to six Gs -- indeed it's uncomfortable enough to mimic external disturbances, mechanical failures and crash scenarios as well as normal flying. The system also monitors a pilot's brainwaves, pulse and other bodily functions to discover if they have necessary nerve. Check out the video after the break and then imagine combining it with a 360-degree viewing dome for utter perfection.
Force Dynamics 401cr test drive (video)
If you're old enough to have spent any time in an arcade, surely at some point you splurged an extra couple of quarters to play a game in a seat that moved a bit, shook a bit, made some feeble attempt at making you feel like you're really in the game. Kid's play, that stuff (quite literally), but just like people don't stop gaming as they get older so too such motion simulation tech doesn't have to stay for kiddies. Enter Force Dynamics and enter the 401cr: a full-bore motion simulator that can not only generate over a G of acceleration but can spin you right 'round as many times as you like. We took it for a quite a few spins indeed, plus more than one crash, and we think you'll want to check them out the video below. %Gallery-117507%
