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Tactile Brush uses sensory illusions to let you feel games, movies
Poor arachnophobes -- it's bad enough that 3D movies can make it look like swarms of eight-legged freaks are pouring out of the screen, now Disney wants you to feel the creepy crawlies, too. In a presumed effort to one-up those "4D" chairs used at Shrek's castle down in Orlando, the company has been working on what it calls Tactile Brush -- a chair with an array of 12 vibrating coils that are able to simulate anything from the sensation of speeding around a race track to the delicate drip of rain on your back. Two techniques are used: apparent motion, which triggers two motors in quick succession to create the illusion of something moving over your skin, and phantom sensation, in which two stationary vibrations are felt as a single tingle between the two points. Disney researchers demoed Tactile Brush at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver using a racing game, but hope to bring it to amusement park rides and movie theaters -- which, in the right hands, should lead to more screaming and at least a few pairs of wet pants.
Mutewatch now in production, set to silently manage your day by July (video)
We first caught wind of Mutewatch AB's eponymous sort of anti-watch -- a personal vibrating time management wristband, equipped with a hidden touch-activated LED display -- when it became available for pre-order back in August. It seemed unique, but back then we had no idea of how it looked in action or when we might finally get one strapped onto our wrists. It's a mystery no more, as the Swedish suite has just released a heavily stylized (and totally rendered) video showcasing the Mutewatch's various touch-enabled functions. Also in tow, a press release announcing retail availability in July. Although our cellphones can do pretty much the same thing as this spendy $259 timepiece, we can't hide our geeky (and guilty) lust for one. You can check out the video for yourself past the break, but be warned: a moderate case of GAS -- Gadget Acquisition Syndrome -- may occur after viewing.
Pioneer debuts new Sound Wing HVT speakers, novel tech touted within
There's a ton of gadgetry that goes into speakers, but the notable thing here is that the Pioneer folks have begun using HVT, or Horizontal-Vertical Transforming technology -- but more on that in sec. This beauty is engineered to reduce unwanted vibration and preserve bass caliber while outputting 100W of sound. Featuring a double diaphragm packaged close together, the Sound Wing gives off omnidirectional sound -- that's 360 degrees of noise. And thanks to HVT, the coils within the speaker have been rearranged to reduce the wasted space in traditional speakers -- though for some reason this particular unit still measures a portly 109mm thick. Seeing that the tech Pioneer has implemented here is novel, we're interested to see how this thing will sound in the real world. You'll find the Sound Wing in Japan for ¥41,000 (about $507) come June.
Child of Eden supports four controllers for full-body feedback
Back at E3 2010 we learned that Tetsuya Mizuguchi's latest creation -- Child of Eden, the spiritual successor to Rez -- can be played using a standard controller, not just the Kinect sensor for which it's become a showcase title. Last night at Microsoft's preview event in San Francisco, we found out that Child of Eden can use 360 pads, plural, for more than aiming and shooting. A rep for developer Q Entertainment told Joystiq that the finished game will support vibration feedback effects spread across up to four controllers, the idea being that you can stick them in pockets, rolled-up sleeves -- anywhere, really -- to über-compensate for Kinect's lack of physical feedback. Mizuguchi himself told us "When I play the Kinect, I need some feedback" at last year's E3. It would appear that he's devised a quite novel, if not a bit absurd, way to satisfy that need -- not to mention out-crazy Rez's Trance Vibrator peripheral.
Analarm vibrating watch wakes you, not your spouse or the neighbors (video)
At some point, every day, it's time to wake up. If you're lucky you roll out of bed whenever the spirit moves you. For the rest of us there's some sort of prompting involved. At some point you've probably felt the rage of being awoken early by someone else's alarm, a problem that the Analarm watch nullifies. It's a simple concept: a vibrating watch with an alarm. Set your time and it buzzes to let you know when to get up, a feature we sorely wished the WakeMate had. Seemingly that's all the thing does, other than tell time of course, which makes its £290 ($450) price seem slightly egregious, especially considering upcoming products like the Lark Up wristband pledge to do the same for just $99.
NES controller gains a Rumble Pak, DIYer gains a dedicated following
Ah, the Rumble Pak. It was arguably the must-have accessory for the Nintendo 64, and had it been around during the time of R.B.I. Baseball, we're certain it would've went over well. One Andy Goetz decided that he'd be interested in reshaping history a bit, and spent 20-some-odd hours building a rumble device for his NES controller as a deadline loomed. He ended up submitting it in Oregon State University's Engineering Expo, and while it seems that they can't actually control when the rumble happens, at least your youngster will likely believe that he / she is doing something right while they're being humiliated by CPU racers in Excitebike. Cruel? Maybe. But totally practical.
New iPod touch has vibration motor (Update: No, it doesn't)
FCC pictures of the brand new iPod touch's internal tech show that the device has a vibrating motor inside of it. According to Apple, the motor will be used with FaceTime, but presumably, it'll work when any app calls for vibration. That should help for gaming -- neither the DS nor the PSP has any sort of vibration feedback, and that's a feature that has become more or less standard on game consoles. This also brings the iPod touch in line with most of what the iPhone has. Besides the cell service (obviously), the GPS, and the mute switch, the iPod touch really is, as even Steve commented at last week's event, "an iPhone without the contract." Update: According to iFixit's teardown of the iPod touch, the component identified is actually a microphone and not a vibration motor. Mac Rumors points out that Apple has updated the iPod touch's FaceTime page to remove all reference to vibration. It appears vibration continues to be an iPhone-only feature for now.
Vibrating auto seat alerts driver when cars get too close
Every time we turn around, auto manufacturers are developing loads of new displays and sensors. At what point does the driver hit sensory overload? That's the question that prompted John Morrell, an Associate Professor at Yale School of Engineering, to position twenty vibrating cellphone motors in a rectangular array inside the driver's seat. Several different warnings were devised, including positional warnings (someone approaching closely behind will set off the center of the array, while a car approaching from the left or right will set off the motors on your left or right, respectively). Preliminary tests were done on a simulator based on The Open Racing Car Simulator (TORCS) platform, and so far things look promising. "[T]he vibrotactile feedback improved drivers' performance over that attained by using the rearview mirror alone," according to Gizmag, "and also helped warn of vehicles hidden by the mirror blind spot." Now, if this could do double duty as a massage chair? Then we'd be onto something.
Brother shakes up expectations with vibration-charged low-power batteries
Lithium-ion battery technology keeps improving by (theoretical) leaps and bounds, but what good's that to you when you're faced with a dead TV remote? Brother Industries has a plan, and it doesn't involve ink for once -- the Japanese printer company's developed a set of prototype batteries you simply shake to charge. AA and AAA models are already in the works, though you shouldn't expect to slot them into cameras or R/C cars, as the miniature electromagnetic induction generators inside are designed for infrequently used gadgets and provide as little as 10mW (or as much as 180mW) when shook. Of course, when it comes to TV remotes there's an even lazier way for couch potatoes to squeeze the juice, but we have to imagine standard-sized cells have a slightly better chance at market.
XCM introduces Rumble Joystick and KO Adapter for PlayStation 3
Hot on the heels of XCM's Dominator joystick comes an even more irresistible iteration, making those that took the plunge in January inevitably jealous. The newfangled Rumble Joystick for PlayStation 3 isn't terribly different from the original... save for the fact that this one shakes, rattles and rolls, of course. Described as the world's first PS3 joystick to rumble natively, this bugger also packs four memory buttons for programming all sorts of sick, twisted macros alongside independent Rapid Fire and Turbo buttons. Moving on, we've got the all new XO Adapter for PS3, which adds support for macros, Rapid Fire and Turbo to any vanilla Dual Shock or SIXAXIS controller. There's no mention of pricing for either, but we suspect that'll change in the near future (like, real soon, given that they'll be shipping in under a month).Read - Rumble Joystick for PS3Read - XO Adapter for PS3
Piezoelectric nanowires could lead to blood-powered iPods, cellphones
You know what'll be awesome? Actual end products resulting from this presumably nonstop research on piezoelectric nanowires. Yet again we're hearing of a new group of researchers that have figured out a way to harness electricity from life's simplest things: walking, a heart beating or even the flowing of blood. Put simply, the gurus have discovered how to use zinc oxide nanowires in order to generate an electric current when "subjected to mechanical stress." The difference here, however, is that these critters could actually be implanted under the skin, though the scientists have made quite clear that there isn't a timetable for commercial production. In other words: yawn.[Via textually, image courtesy of NSF]
Fast & Furious Blu-ray Trilogy reviewed, D-BOX shines
The new Fast & Furious, not to be confused with the old Fast & Furious, is all set to become the first major theatrical release with D-BOX baked in. And as TheHDRoom points out, these movies were just born to be felt as well as watched. When reviewing the trilogy on Blu-ray, they found these discs immediately among their favorite D-BOX discs. More specifically, they noted that the sensation was strong and engrossing throughout, especially when cars were changing gears -- though they did confess that Tokyo Drift suffered from jolts that were just too faint to really enjoy. Of course, you'd have to be the world's biggest F&F fan to let this trio of flicks convince you to pick up one of those pricey D-BOX motion chairs, but if you're leaning that way, give the read link a look beforehand.
Philips wants to get you in the movies -- or at least into a goofy vibrating jacket
Philips has definitely done more for sensory immersion than most with its amBX line of... things, but a general shortage of people willing to mount fans or rumbling wrist rests on their keyboards hasn't kept the company from developing what it thinks is next: a vibrating jacket. The unnamed and triangle-patterned coat features 64 little rumblers distributed throughout, all powered by a pair of AA batteries. The intent is to better immerse you into movies by, say, replicating a light touch running up either arm or simulating an actor's beating heartbeat -- "emotional immersion" they call it. We're not so sure this will be any more compelling than the vibrating vests companies have been trying to sell gamers (and the military) for years, but we do know that Philips had better watch out for lawyers from Immersion.[Via Slashdot]
Fast & Furious to be first major theatrical release with D-BOX
When you're on, you're on. After notching its best ever quarter in terms of sales, D-BOX has just landed yet another huge win. Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious -- which is slated to ignite a new generation of street racers who compete for gas money rather than pink slips -- will be the first major theatrical feature release with the company's Motion Code technology written in. 'Til now, Motion Code had been mostly restricted to at-home films and video games, but now moviegoers who can find a D-BOX-equipped cinema can enjoy this film while feeling all the vibrations and rumbles as the engines rev and the egos flair. Something tells us this kind of occurrence will only get more and more common.
D-BOX rumbles to best ever quarter in terms of sales
The major news outlets seem to think there's some sort of "recession" going on, but those with cash are still spending like it's 1999. D-BOX, the outfit famous for its rumbling theater seats and corresponding Motion Code system, has just reported its best ever quarter in terms of sales, notching revenues of $1,227,340 for the third quarter of its 2009 fiscal year. Sales increased some 29 percent year-over-year, and it's hoping to keep the momentum going with its comparatively affordable hybrid GPH-120 system ($2,999; available summer 2009) for gamers who love to rock. And to think, most of us laughed this company off. Kudos, D-BOX.
D-BOX scores deal to bring rumbling chairs to Mann Theatres
Ah, ha! So the rumors were true, after all. Just over three months after we heard that D-BOX was trying desperately to get its Motion Code technology into cinemas, we're finally seeing the first deal with a commercial theater chain. Mann Theatres, the operators of the famous Mann Chinese 6 Theatre in Hollywood, has become the first to first to allow D-BOX seating to be installed, with the initial installation taking place in theatre six of the aforementioned multiplex. There will also be a demo station setup in the lobby for moviegoers to "test drive" the rumbling, bumbling system, though there's no word on whether watching a flick in the D-BOX cinema will cost extra. In all seriousness, this deal is gigantic for D-BOX, and if a few more chains latch on, it won't be long before you see the technology's creator(s) sailing 'round the world and basking in their own glory.[Image courtesy of About]
Researchers considering syncing soccer matches with mobile vibrations
Call us cynical, but we just can't see this one working out it. A team of researchers from Umeå University in Sweden are reportedly looking to sync up events on a soccer field to vibrations in a cellphone, essentially enabling you to keep track of the action without having to focus your eyes / ears on the handset. The proposed system could send vibrations to the phone that would act as a way of communicating possession, ball placement and (of course) gooooooooaaallllls, but obviously a few obstacles still stand in the way. For starters, buzzing your mobile through an entire tilt would do a number on the battery life, and even though you could "feel" the action, it would still require a great deal of attention. In all honesty, we'd say this whole system probably has more promise off the pitch than on, but then again, we call football soccer, so what do we know?[Via UnwiredView]
Joystiq hands-on: Rez HD
As vector-like throwing-star enemies corkscrewed towards me, I defended myself with a gun that made electronic clapping sounds. I fired the gun. Clap. I fired two quick shots. Clap Clap. My applause aligned with the electronic beats spilling from the speakers. It was Korg-like synth-aesthesia, and almost immediately, I cared more about clapping in-time to the music than shooting back. Rez HD surrounded me in a coordinated, sensory bombardment. The controller in my hand shook and bobbed with the beats while controllers under my feet and on my back vibrated a counter-tempo pattern. 5.1 surround-sound flew from all directions, and the neon-sharp HD game-world pulled me into its reality. In my brief time with Rez HD, I decided that it wasn't a game as much as an experience. There's a game inside somewhere, but the title feels like a journey, rewarding meandering through levels instead of racing to the end. And even though it's a linear shooter, Rez HD hides a lot of exploration; I look forward to moving slowly through the game after its January 30 release. %Gallery-12973%
Butt-on with the ButtKicker
Let's be honest, gaming chairs in all flavors of "enhancement" from vibration to sound to cup holders and beyond are quickly becoming a dime a dozen -- but the ButtKicker not only takes a different approach to vibration enhancement than other options but also wins the "most notable name" award in the arena. For one thing, it's not a chair -- it's a device you can install on any office chair to add vibration experience to not just gaming but anything producing sound on your computer including music and other media players. There are also two other versions of the device for use in home theater and auto installations (you can retrofit pretty much any old Lazy-boy in your living room). At $99 the gaming-focused version of the ButtKicker is cheaper than a lot of all-in-one gaming chair solutions as well. Oh, and how does the thing feel? Let's just say it tickled us in many nuanced ways.%Gallery-13283%
Microsoft sues Immersion over alleged breach of contract
Haptic technology developer Immersion has been sued by Microsoft for not following through with their end of an agreement that settled a lawsuit originally filed by Immersion towards the Xbox 360 maker back in 2003. Funny how things come full circle.Microsoft cited a portion of the agreement where Immersion was to pay the company "based on certain business and IP licensing arrangements" but has not done so. The original agreement had Microsoft paying $26 million for licensing rights and a stake in the company.Immersion is probably best known in the video game industry for its lawsuits against Sony over patents based on their force feedback technology. Though Microsoft settled, Sony fought it and lost, eventually paying over $90 million to the patent holder.
