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Television Media

Motion Simulator for Home Theater 125

Posted by michael from the dramamine-not-included dept.
Dalvenjah FoxFire writes "D-Box, a Canadian speaker company, has designed a system called the Odyssee consisting of four motor-driven actuators that go under your couch and a controller box with a CD-ROM drive for the control files. The controller reads the Dolby Digital bitstream from your DVD player, and plays back synchronized motion effects designed by the company. For about $20,000, you too can add motion simulation to your home theater. They have a list on their site of the movies they've encoded, including The Matrix, Drunken Master, Star Wars Episode I, and more, though it also has an 'audio driven' mode which will work with any source."
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Motion Simulator for Home Theater More

Motion Simulator for Home Theater

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  • Sweeet!!! (Score:2, Funny)

    by CyberBill ( 526285 )
    This would make porn Soooooo much better!!!!!! -Bill
  • So if I'm watching buffy, does it make the springs fly out and stab me in the back when she stakes one of the toothy evil dudes?
  • I have been to amusement park motion rides, and they generate the illusion of motion via many techniques: fans, moving seats, surround sound. But I wonder if home modifications can add some water splashes and pain stimulators?

    That would be an awesome movie going experience!
    • Pain stimulators? i'm waiting for pleasure stimulators. Then my porn collection would be SO much more enjoyable.

      • What you are really thinking about (Score:4, Funny)

        by Zeinfeld ( 263942 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @07:30PM (#4351623) Homepage
        Pain stimulators? i'm waiting for pleasure stimulators. Then my porn collection would be SO much more enjoyable.

        Letsee for $20,000 you can do what? Make the couch vibrate gently. Methinks that the system you are after is gonna cost a whole lot more.

        In comparison for roughly $200 you can go get the real thing in a legalized establishment in Nevada. So for the price of your automated bonk-o-matic you can have a bonk a week for over two years.

        In Europe of course your capital investment will go a lot further. Invested in an interest bearing account you could engage the Euro 50 services of a window girl 32 times a year - about once every 10 days from the interest alone.

        At least that is what a cursory search of the Internet implies.

        Of course you may say that it is a real sad type who goes to visit prostitutes, but what does that make the folk using the bonk-o-matic???

        Of course life being unfair it turns out that the female anatomy is considerably more compatible with artificial coitus. Examples may be found on the Web [fuckingmachines.com]. Unfortunately it appears that these guys are rather more interested in the subject from the male point of view. For example one would think that from the pure engineering point of view, solenoids would provide a more effective basic technology for their purposes than rotory motors with sun and planet drives.

        Also rather than have the device synchronized to a video track one would think that biometric feedback to determine what types of stimulation are being best received.

        Sorry but I don't think I want to put any part of my anatomy into a device of that kind (or for that matter have it inserted into me).

        But they are a little bit more interesting than yet another case mod hack.

  • Just Imagine... (Score:5, Funny)

    by silverhalide ( 584408 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:10PM (#4351255)
    I can't wait until they encode Debbie Does Dallas, and other high quality pr0n flicks. As usual, pr0n will take this technology to the next level!!
  • Ever try drinking tea in a moving car? It is almost similar to easily getting burned. Now enter the couch. If I just happen to be trying to drink some tea the couch MOOOVEESS *spill* GOT DAMN IT!....

    Need I say more?

  • Imagine P0rn in Motion, the beating of the rods,...

    But what happens if somebody hacks this thing? Am I ending with my head sticking in the ceiling?

  • potential problem (Score:4, Funny)

    by evacuate_the_bull ( 517290 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:13PM (#4351267)
    Does Odyssee only work with action movies?

    Absolutely not! While there is no question that Odyssee can add dramatic effects to action scenes containing explosions, car chases and aerial dogfights, you'll find the more subtle effects it can create will add even more to your overall viewing experience. Odyssee adds fun, drama and excitement to everything you watch.

    Odyssee will also likely make me spill my beer all over my girlfriend and her $1,000 leather. Yup, that'll add drama and excitement to the night... :)

  • So... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by blake213 ( 575924 )
    It's basically just a giant Rumble Pack [videogamereview.com]?

  • Tech TV (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:14PM (#4351271)
    I see someone else besides me watches Tech TV, they just had a segment on this in Fresh Gear this morning. You can probably catch it some other time this weekend if you want to see some video of this in action.

    I have to wonder though if a motion device like this wouldn't make a movie less, rather than more, immersive. Even the motion simulator rides at Disney I find too distractng to really enjoy (and in its own category, the Back to the Future ride at Universal that smashes the heads of tall people into the walls over and over again). I get more of a sense of motion from IMAX than from motion simulators.
    • I must agree. I have seen one movie on an IMAX up in Hull, QB once. I loved it. Goto Canada's Wonderland in Toronto - I hate the roller coasters. Of course I tended to get motion sick once in Quake 3 Fortress after not playing for a while. Had to turn off the bobbing :-)
  • Moving chairs... Click 'make', you switch to your porn movie. An error during the build, the chair shakes. WONDEROUS! U.S. Patent number 6728482! (not really)
  • I bet this'll be extra sexy when it's combined with those new 3D screens.

  • For $20K (Score:3, Funny)

    by volpe ( 58112 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:23PM (#4351302)
    I can hire the neighbor's kid to stand behind the couch and jump up and down on cue, and still have $19,980 left over.
    • I can hire the neighbor's kid to stand behind the couch and jump up and down on cue, and still have $19,980 left over.

      For $20K I could hire someone to rock my world while I hung on to the couch, and still have enough left to smoke myself to death afterwards. ;-)
    • We actually did something like that "back in the day" using an old recliner while playing Doom.. The effect was there but the recliner only lasted about a week before the arms fell off :)
  • thats kewl, tho how many wants to buy a system like that? who actually needs a system like that? and how much it makes noise, if it makes too much noise it will be useless...

    Kewl that you can get to your home theater system something like that also, but price is high and that isn't very needed, i think their market will be a bit narrow, for the rich kids only...

  • Bass shakers? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Haven't we had [url=http://www.vrealities.com/bass.html]bass shakers[/url] for years now? I got a couple for $40 and they work pretty well. Granted all they do is shake things, but I'm pretty sure the Odysee doesn't shake you $20,000 better.
  • My downstairs neighbors are going to just love this device.

  • This is the same old problem (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ShooterNeo ( 555040 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:48PM (#4351371)
    This technology has the same old problem TONS of extremely cool failed entertainment techs have had.

    Force feedback, HDTV, 3d displays, head mounted displays, smell devices, and many others. I suspect the first true V.R. rigs (with wires jacking right in to your nervous system) will suffer it too.

    The old chicken and the egg. This tech is not quite good enough for the early adopters with the big budgets to buy it, and because of that prices will never come down enough so the rest of us can afford it.

    Only when a new technology is SO much better than the current available do the earlier adopters buy it and the tech takes off. But there also has to be convincing content for it.
    • Well, considering that the average person doesn't spend thousands of dollars buying new computers every six months or upgrading their car stereo to shatter windows from a hundred feet away, that doesn't leave much but entertainment systems or power tools on which to waste all their money. Have you ever looked at the prices of the high-end televisions in Best Buy? Fucking insane. Who in their right mind spends $2000 on a television? I guess some people do, because I see them carting those huge boxes outside to their car.

      If you're not buying a new Corvette or 3 GHz Pentium IV with 21" LCD, I guess you might as well upgrade your entertainment center. What else are those stinking rich assholes going to spend their money on? Compact discs?

      • Re:This is the same old problem (Score:5, Funny)

        by Zeinfeld ( 263942 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @07:37PM (#4351640) Homepage
        Who in their right mind spends $2000 on a television? I guess some people do, because I see them carting those huge boxes outside to their car.

        Never bought a house then? Thought not.

        Buy a house and you will suddenly find that you end up paying the most ridiculous prices for stuff. It is pretty easy to end up paying $2,000 just to hang wallpaper. And as for curtains. And don't think that you have a choice about it since in matters of this type you will be overulled by she who must be obeyed or you won't get sex for three months.

        So when you get to this point you will find yourself buying a $2000 TV because doing so is much cheaper than redecorating. And at the end of the day you are going to look at the TV much more often tha anything else in your house.

        • Man alive... is someone bitter about his marriage?

          I mean, Im aware that when you marry you agree to let someone else make decisions on every single penny you will make for the rest of your life, however 2000 USD for putting wallpaper is pretty much absurd.

          I mean how many square meters is that??
          • Sounds like approx. two adjacent rooms to me.
            • Sounds like approx. two adjacent rooms to me.

              Actually three, but they are half panelled.

              The point is that people will balk at $2000 for a TV then go and blow $1000 on a light fixture. When it gets to cars things get even whackier. My car has a sound system with a $2,500 list price, I got it at no extra cost because I bought the floor model. But some people will obviously pay that amount - and then probably gripe about paying the same for a TV.

              I thought the outrage at the Tyco CEO's $6000 'shower curtain' was somewhat amusing since I was quoted $3,000 for one myself. Now I don't know what Kozlowski was buying but I somehow doubt it would have been one of those pvc drapes than hangs from a pole. If you want a glass door type affair they cost a lot.

              Or look at it this way, Bush's war that he wants to start in Iraq will by most accounts cost at least $100 billion. If the occupation costs as much again we are looking at a $2,000 cost for every familly in the US. One would think that the 'liberal media' would be talking about this if $2,000 was a lot of money.

        • Nope. I'll admit that I've never purchased a house. I always did wonder why my parents spent so much on carpeting, lawn care, paving the driveway, putting in a porch, redecording the living room, and painting the house.

          I kept telling them that they could buy a killer 386 PC for the cost of the driveway, a killer 486 for the porch, a dual processor Pentium III for the carpeting, etc... but they never listened to me.

          All I need is a room for my servers and a mattress. And maybe an air conditioner. Those systems get hot...
      • Who in their right mind spends $2000 on a television?
        Why, me of course. I bought this puppy [hitachi.com] open-box for $2000 a few months ago, and it's one of the best investments I've made. Sure, our regular cable-feed looks like crap, but DVDs and console systems look great. You can finally play 4-player games and each person gets their own miniature widescreen 19" TV. And Lord of the Rings looks awesome. There's that [hometheaterforum.com] have these TVs [hometheaterspot.com]. Sad to say, but I can't go back to a regular TV. If you get used to it long enough you have to buy your own (a few of my friends did/will) -- basically, it's not a waste.

        Now if you don't like TV, or watching movies, or playing video games, then complaining about how people can spend $2000 on a TV is a moot point since you're not an enthusiast to begin with.

        If you want to wonder about people with too much money, go see the Prada store in NYC and find someone who is casually spending $3,500.00 on a jacket. Now that's scary.

      • Hmm, my Sony TV did cost $1500 for at 29" (6 years ago I think). of course I could have gotten their cheaper version for half the price. But I wanted the one with all the SCART,composite,S-VHS connections in the back and front, with the digital cam filter(I think it is called), being able to play both NTSC, PAL etc. and no other had that that really black screen they all where light gray.
        Well, I had my laserdiscs, had my prologic surround sound none of which had caught on here in Europe(and not available in stores) so people were always amazed to see and hear it. heh. But these days I haven't even half of it plugged in anymore.
        Have been thinking about buying a DVD player, but it's just that I don't really watch many movies any more. However now that they have begun shipping Simpsons on DVD, I might have to get one anyway.
  • This would be the perfect way to enjoy a piping-hot cup of tea while watching "The Matrix."
    The ointment reservoir, and bandage tray are extra.

  • Motion Enhanced Drunken Master (Score:5, Funny)

    by Marijuana al-Shehi ( 609113 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:54PM (#4351382)

    For $20,000 I will come to your home theater, put the Drunken Master DVD in your player, and punch you in the face in perfect synch with the on-screen fighting. Now that's reality!

  • Dalvenjah FoxFire writes

    Hmm.. does this mean it comes with spambots? :)

    (sure.. its offtopic.. but its not a !@#$@ profit joke.. that has to count for something right?! :)

  • Its a pretty cool toy... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by liamk ( 411747 ) <liamk AT liamkeegan DOT com> on Saturday September 28, 2002 @05:58PM (#4351392) Homepage
    I saw a demo of this system at a local A/V megaplex. Basically, the system consists of a control box hooked up to four lifts. The lifts sit under a simple platform that you put your couch on. Each lift has two or three inches of travel and can accelerate at up to 2 Gs. Needless to say, it packs quite a punch.

    The dealer played a scene from Jurassic Park 3 where an airplane tries to take off and then subsequently crashes in a jungle. As the plane took off, it felt like the couch had some bass shakers on the bottom. Not a big deal.

    Well, when the plane hit a tree and spun around, my friend and I were nearly thrown from the couch. It felt like a Universal theme park ride. The only downside is that you are really involved in the movie, almost too involved -- it's tough to lay on the couch and relax to an action-packed blood-fest while you're being violently tossed around.

    The motion system is totally standalone. The video and motion sync up through the A/V connection from your DVD player. To start a movie, hit play on the DVD player and select the movie in the Odysee. It does the rest by iteself. I think the sales guy said they had a couple hundred movies already preprogrammed.

    The system costs $20,000 (list) and comes with a year of free updates. After that, if you want more movies, it's $500/year. Not exactly cheap.

    If you're near a Soundtrack/Ultimate Electronics store, they probably have a demo room. It's worth the trip.
    • The dealer played a scene from Jurassic Park 3 where an airplane tries to take off and then subsequently crashes in a jungle.

      That's an interesting choice of scene. When I watched this movie when it came on cable, it was the only part I found compelling enough to rewind and play again and again. I thought it was a very nicely done crash scene, IMO one of the most realistic I have seen in movies, compared to videos I have seen of air crashes, and numerous car crashes I have been involved in.
  • If this technology is anything like the "rumble packs" in today's joysticks, I'll take a pass.

    Anyways, half the time when you would want the sensation of motion (jet plane taking off ? explosions ? car accelerating ?), there's a lot of noise coming out of your speakers, andif you have a half-decent system, your sofa's probably shaking already.

  • Taronofsky Hell... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    They have a list on their site of the movies they've encoded, including The Matrix, Drunken Master, Star Wars Episode I, and more, though it also has an 'audio driven' mode which will work with any source.

    Note to self: Do not watch Pi with my Odyssee...
  • Hell, I can simulate you into motion for free, by kicking your fat ass off the couch for once.

  • I just can imagine our cats reaction to the system in action (woOoOoF). Eventually, they will give up their landlordship on the couch. Oh heaven: no more f..ing hairs, no more fight for the best place. Now, adding a feature as useful as the "random triggerering of the jumping couch" syndrome to the system will be definitely coOoOo0l.

    But Twenty Grands, I can buy a car for that, and obtain very real impressions with it too, though for more $500 of maintenance a year.

    Anyway, we have one of those park in montreal where they have a movie theater with 3D glasses and seat motion.

    ...And I HATE it, because you cannot both look at the movie, hold on to your glasses and avoid to puke at the same time.
  • Well, I think it's neat. I would pay up to 300 dollars for the controller unit, and 85 dollars per lift, if it can do 4 couches total (16 lifts). And I would buy 4, not 16. But my living room is in a better setup than theirs. I think I even have a jpeg... *looks* oh look at that, yes i do. http://digitalsushi.com/konton/livingroom/ You know whats funny is that I am not an audiophile. If you swapped those crap Bose 301s and Boston whatevers (a further tribute that I dont know what models they are) with some 20k dollar rig, I wouldnt even notice. Anyhoo, I figured I'd post that link since it was already there. I like seeing other people's personal LAN/office setups, and living room setups. It's too bad I dont have a camera that can get the wide tight shot that is my LAN, cause its cooler than my living room- I never spend time in there. Maybe thats why I've been here 4 months and the nintendo is still unplugged. Thing that ticks me off is that I get a 99/100 signal rating to DirectTV, and I average about 20 minutes of television daily (so like 2 or 3 shows a week)- DirectTV made me sign a one year contract where I can't bust out. Lame huh. Sorry for the wild rambling- hey anyone else have pics of their setups? (the theme of mine is that I have the coolest speaker stand on slashdot (little lights on a dimmer run under all the cloth- it diffuses!) and that I have no idea what my equipment is.. heck I dont even have a sub in that room!)
  • Well, knowing how they make sound-fx for hong-kong karate movies, do we really need all of these fancy equipment to hear the sound of a towel hitting a chair?:) for the 'drunken master' something much better would be a *taste* simulation :)
  • I was cruising through this months Widescreen Review Magazine few weeks ago and read a detailed review of this system. My first impression was that it was gimmicky bull$hit, further reading changed my mind and I am now looking to demo one of these units in person. I will not be buying it though, just want a test drive.

    You can read part of the article by going to
    http://www.widescreenreview.com/attractions/eqre v5 .html

    Pick up this months Widescreen Review for the full article and a whole lot more.

  • One pair of ears (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fedor ( 598123 ) on Saturday September 28, 2002 @07:18PM (#4351598)
    It's better to improve recording technology rather than producting expensive speaker systems to improve 'natural sound'. As long as people have two ears, two signals are enough to recreate 3D sound in our brains. As long as I'm sitting on a couch while listening to the soundtrack of a movie while watching the screen, I don't want to move my head to listen to the superfluous speakers.
    • As long as people have two ears, two signals are enough to recreate 3D sound in our brains. As long as I'm sitting on a couch while listening to the soundtrack of a movie while watching the screen, I don't want to move my head to listen to the superfluous speakers.

      Okay, that's quite true. You do only need two signals for perfect reproduction of 3D sound--if you never move your head. Unfortunately, you do move. And turn. The extra speakers are to preserve the illusion of a three-dimensional sound environment even for an observer that isn't tied in one place and completely unable to move.

      In principle, if a movie viewer had a pair of headphones coupled to a sensor to monitor head position and angle and the movie had encoded information about the precise location of each and every sound source within each scene and the system could adjust the sound fed to your ears fast enough to prevent a disorienting disjoint between sound and visuals...then maybe two speakers would be enough for 3D sound--per audience member.

      That said, you're right--there are a lot of movies out there with poorly-recorded/edited/engineered sound, and that can't be fixed no matter how clever your home theatre system is.

  • You must be crazy!!!!! (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    20.000$!!!! For this budget, I prefer a YBA Line 1 [phlox-electronique.fr]
  • I myself have access to a unit with full 360 motion and big screen TV....
    Draw back is you have to strap yourself to the seat. No drinks or popcorn...

    Most slashdot geeks, could build one for a few hundred dollars with some spare parts and a used computer.

  • I have a hard time sometimes with a dark room and my 55 inch Mitsubishi.

    Throw in active movement and it'd be rough.

    No screwdrivers with that puppy, OJ makes me get extra motion sickness.
  • OK so the company that makes this programs certain movies to be optimized for the effects, while there is a direct sound input option which would likely offer much less precision to the experiance. I wonder when individual movie studios will be making deals with them for exclusive vibrations or something? Like how TiVo did that thing where it forced people to tape a TV show because they bent to corporate pressure, maybe these guys will send people through the roof with Matrix Reloaded bu sort of... jiggle with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Hmmmm....

  • We have natural motion simulation here in California. We call the technology "earthquakes".

    The only hard part is synching them to the picture. But there are plenty of unemployed Silli Valley techies here to help figure that part out.
  • You can pretend you already have it, but the only movie you can watch is My Dinner With Andre.
  • Just bury $5,000 worth of subwoofers under your couch, same thing.
  • I had a chance to experience this at this summer's Street of Dreams in Portland, OR ($750K-$2M+ spec homes open to the public for a few weeks). They were showing part of the Quidditch match from Harry Potter. After sitting through about as much time of ads as they showed of the clip, it actually did a respectable job, but I don't think I'd actually like to watch an entire movie being bounced around --- it's much better technology for a few minute ride than a 2-hr movie.
  • They have a list on their site of the movies they've encoded, including The Matrix, Drunken Master, Star Wars Episode I, and more
    Look, look! They're modifying the movies! Adding motion...deleting violence...why can't we just leave the movies the way the directors created them! :)
  • WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


    dang, there goes my homework
  • And, coming soon..... the real experience. A lousy back seat, or one really close to the screen. Annoying 7 year-olds-screaming and laughing at all the wrong parts, and your token 16year old, throwing popcorn at his mates. On the other side of you. Repeatedly. Would anyone really pay for an 'enhanced' experience? Or is watching the film on DVD, surround sound and features not enough, you need to spill your drinks and popcorn as well, during the high speed car chase?
  • ...Another company invents a system called "Obesity", to get the couch potatoes into motion. :-)

  • * This is complicated. Has to do with interrupts. Thus, I am
    * scared witless. Therefore I refuse to write this function. :-P
    -- From the maclinux patch

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...

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