Man Gadgets: Movie Emotion Jacket

6:45 pm Contributed by JW

Want to have better watching experience when you walk into movie theaters next time? As we slowly move to digital projectors and film makers start to experiment with 3D more, Philips Electronics are demonstrating one such experiment that takes the form of a jacket at the World Haptics Conference 2009 this month. The researchers have modified a tight-fitting jacket to include 64 vibrating motors that sit against the body on the chest and arms. The motors are grouped into 4 lots of 16 with each controlled by its own processor. Even so, it can function on just two AA batteries, however, more batteries would be required to make it last through a full film.

The point of the jacket is not to act like a force feedback device making the wearer feel every punch, kick, or explosion. Instead it is meant to gauge how a viewers emotional response and immersion in what they are viewing can be enhanced.