BSG Laboratories Inc.
Intensor IGS 400 Chair
by Tom Wilson (15 October 1998)
light,
to us humans, is the stimulation of senses. It is not just the
visuals that give the sense of flight, but a mix of seat of the pants
instincts, a rapid interpretation of the gauges, and especially the
constant bombardment of sounds in the cockpit.
All the time that your eyes are telling you,
Altitude is OK, airspeed is good, course is on target, or
WOW look at that cloud!
I know I could land there...
Your butt is saying,
...a little up
...turn to the left
...ease that bank.
To me, sound is primary. During one of my first glider flights, the instructor kept telling me to "just listen". No, not to him, but to the flight. He sat behind me and I just reveled in the feelings and visuals of my flight. Every so often he would say, "watch your airspeed". I would think, I'm listening, I'm listening. Things were rapidly changing around me as I watched out the windshield in awe of my flight. One more time he disrupted my visual trance...."LISTEN", "Watch your AIRSPEED."
Suddenly....SILENCE...
Thirty seconds seemed to pass, something had changed, something was wrong, everything looked and felt the same, but it was silent. In the next instant I was falling out of the sky. Pulling back hard on the stick trying to lift the aircraft back in to the air.
Then, I listened. I'm not sure whether I heard the loud pounding of my heartbeat or my scream as we plummeted to earth. Out of the chaos the one thing I could hear amid the terror and rush of heartbeats was the calm sound of my instructors voice saying, coolly and calmly. "I bet right now you're pulling back on that stick as hard as you can." .........YEESSS!!...
Well, I recovered from that stall and it was much less dramatic for everyone else but me. Lesson learned, DON'T LET THE SOUNDS STOP.
So, to me sound is primary in the "As Real As It Gets" part of Flight Sim. Now there is a seat that provides not only sound but some tactile sensation. This is the INTENSOR chair. It will bring a whole new sense to simming.
The INTENSOR from BSG Laboratories Inc. does for seat of the pants
flying what force feedback did for joysticks. A sound system is built
right into the chair. This can connect to any stereo RCA output,
including TV, CD, electronic games, and computers.The INTENSOR seat can fold for storage or be attached to the optional Chair-Base Accessory. This will make it an easy rolling, height adjustable, computer chair.
In games the INTENSOR will let you feel the thump of explosions, the slam of a door, the cresendo of music. In flight sims you will experience like never before the purr of a piston or the whine of a turbine.
The system has a power unit. Power output is 20Wx4channels and a nine
foot connector cord. The seat has five speakers:
(1) 5.25" full-range driver
(1) 5.25" bass driver
(2) 2" left and right mid-range drivers
(1) 2" high-end driver (tweeter)
and a headphone jack for private listening. There are controls on the
seat to adjust volume and tactile intensity.
Other options are the IGS 100 muti-media subwoofer and 1" cushions.
The brochure from BSG Laboratories states: Intensor delivers a near-field sound experience produced by unique frequency separation. This patented process works with the brain and auditory system to create a psycho-acoustic effect that enhances your ability to percieve and experience sound.
In conclusion, I found that this seat enveloped me in flight simulator. The new experience of flaps changing, retracting gear, the rumble of idle, and the crash of thunder has taken my sim experience to a new level of realism.
Get more info from
www.intensor.com
Tom Wilson
thw@world.std.com