The ride of your life, in the living room
The Quest 300 series
(Credit: D-Box)If you've always envied those simulation rides at the fun fair, here's your chance to own a lifetime's worth of rides. D-Box's X3me and Quest chairs are leather recliners with built-in actuators that pull you into the onscreen action by rocking you around in sync with the movie's movement and sound.
A D-Box ride works with a D-Box decoder box or a PC that sits between your media player and D-Box chair. First, D-Box engineers code the motions in a particular movie into a series of motion controls that can be read by the decoder box and subsequently translated to the chair's hydraulics (actuators). These motion codes are constantly updated on the D-Box site as new movies are released. What this means is that only movies which have been coded by D-Box will work with the chair.
Capable of up to 2Gs of acceleration and 100 movements per second, it might be a good idea to keep some bags around if all that motion induces your gag reflex.
At more than $13,110, the X3me (comes with three actuators) may be a moot point, though D-Box has some less-expensive alternatives. The Quest is the same chair but minus one actuator and about $4,140 off the price. And if that cost still proves a little too heavy, D-Box also has the Universal Motion Platform, which lets you plunk your existing recliner onto a moving stage (with a choice of either of four or two motors).
(Source: Crave Asia)
