Audio Video News

It used to be that you had to be an astronaut or a fighter pilot in order to experience first-class motion simulation. D-BOX Technology, Inc., changed that when they introduced the high-end Odyssee Motion Simulator that included a dedicated controller and set of actuators that move your favorite chair or (a platform holding several chairs) in synchronization with a number of Hollywood movies for which D-BOX had slavishly encoded motion commands. (Read about Chris Chiarella's stimulating experience with the Odyssee simulator here .) Now D-BOX has lowered the price of admission for motion at home with Quest chairs and loveseats.

The new reclining theater chairs and loveseats integrate a pair of direct-drive actuators that can move and lift the seating with up to 2Gs of acceleration. The Quest seats can be controlled in one of two ways - with D-BOX's Series 3 Kinetron controller or with a special Motion Controller Interface (MCI) and PC-based software. Each Quest seat includes D-BOX's F/X Motion Code Volume 1 containing motion programming for 100 movies. Internet subscription updates to D-BOX's F/X motion codes are also available.

The recliners and loveseats feature manual or motorized "wall-hugger" recliner mechanisms. Each can be covered in one of six NuSuede colors or ten shades of 100-percent premium leather. For those who want to keep the motion simulation experience all to themselves, matching non-activated seats are also available. (Quest motion components that upgrade the chairs to full-motion capabilities can be added at a later date after family and friends vociferously complain about your miserly nature.) Each chair's frame is fabricated from hardwood solids and 13-ply European hardwood plywood with metal-to-metal fasteners. Rigid construction is necessary to withstand the forces generated by the direct-drive actuators.

To create the F/X motion codes, D-BOX's motion artists spend an average of two weeks programming the various motions (bumps, shakes, crashes, and splashes) found in each F/X-encoded movie. Each movie is analyzed frame by frame to ensure that the motion created by the system is synchronized with the on-screen action and sound. For movies, TV shows, and sports - plus computer and video games - the motion controller functions in a real-time "Audio" mode for simulated motion stimulation.

The number of titles with available D-BOX F/X control codes currently exceeds 400. Four F/X Motion Code Volumes containing 100 titles per volume are currently available for $250 each. D-BOX continues to add control codes for for titles at the rate of approximately 10-12 per month. Titles include:

• The Matrix I & II
• Blade Runner
• Harry Potter I & II
• Finding Nemo
• Shrek 2
• "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy
• Die Another Day
• Bad Boys 2
• Spider-Man 2
• The Bourne Supremacy
• The Chronicles of Riddick

Pricing for Quest seating ranges from $5,299 for a single chair with manual recline and NuSuede covering all the way to $10,299 for a motorized reclining loveseat covered in premium leather. Non-activated seating can be had for $1,699 to $6,199 with the add-on, field-installed motion simulator system priced at $4,499. The PC-based Motion Controller Interface (MCI) with Windows software is $799. The Series 3 Kinetron Controller (including an integrated 40-GB hard drive) has an MSRP of $2,999. (All prices listed here for this Canadian company's products are in US dollars.)