Jacket Lets You Feel the Movies 111
sp3cialk79 writes "Researchers from Philips Electronics plan to describe a jacket they have lined with vibration motors to study the effects of touch on a movie viewer's emotional response to what the characters are experiencing.
'People don't realize how sensitive we are to touch, although it is the first sense that fetuses develop in the womb,' says Paul Lemmens, a Philips senior scientist who will be presenting research done using the jacket at the IEEE-sponsored 2009 World Haptics Conference in Salt Lake City.
The jacket contains 64 independently controlled actuators distributed across the arms and torso. The actuators are arrayed in 16 groups of four and linked along a serial bus; each group shares a microprocessor. The actuators draw so little current that the jacket could operate for an hour on its two AA batteries even if the system was continuously driving 20 of the motors simultaneously."
As important? (Score:3, Interesting)
Old Idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Reminds me of the 'Feelies' in Huxley's 'Brave New World'. It will probably end up being mainly used in the same fashion. (i.e. for porn)
Games? (Score:5, Interesting)
A similar jacket may make an interesting game feedback device.
The thump of a bullet hitting your back in a shooter would be nifty directional feedback. A tap on the shoulder in the dark of a horror game could be startling. The grip on your arm of a frightened refugee you're escorting through a combat zone, an opponent trying to tickle you in a fighting game as a distraction. And of course the same feedback scenarios mentioned in TFA, just in games rather than movies.
Of course, the cost would probably relegate such a thing to a niche market, but it'd be fun component t'play around with in a game's design.
Re:Old Idea (Score:3, Interesting)
You beat me to it. Besides (porn etc.), this will add up to humanity loosing a or the sense reality, or, from a different perspective, the subset of 'reality' (still) shared among most will be further diminished.
CC.
Re:Novel uses (Score:3, Interesting)
Children should never, ever, be taken anywhere where they are expected to act like an adult. They're not going to learn social skills in the cinema, or in a church service, or on an airplane with a captive audience. They'll learn them in a playground, or in a school, or somewhere where they are not expected to act like they're 30+ years of age.
Does this mean that parents can't go out and have good time at the cinema, or on holidays, or in a pub without leaving their children at home? YOU BET YOUR INCONSIDERATE REAR END IT DOES!!! I'm sorry, but once you have children, your salad days are over. No more late night drinking sessions, or movie trips or just about any other adult activity without calling a babysitter. Period.
Do not ever subject other people who are trying to enjoy themselves to your wailing offspring. People work hard for their time off, and deserve not to have it ruined because you were too cheap to pay for childminders and/or because you are a 30 year old with two kids who will not accept that they can't live like they're 20 anymore!
Shut those kids up!!!