Seat back pad lets gamers feel blasts
Zach Jaffe wants to players to be so immersed in action games that they feel each blast vibrate through their very being.
He was at the premier Electronic Entertainment Expo video game show in Los Angeles offering a new way to make that happen.
Jaffe showed off a "SubPac" pad that, once snug between a seated gamer and the back of a chair, translates low frequency sounds into vibrations fired into the body.
"Whereas previously you could only hear sound, now you are going to feel sound as well," Jaffe said while providing AFP a demonstration at E3, which ends Thursday.
"We want you to feel the explosions; the fire of your AK as you are running and gunning through a game level.
SubPac 2 was part of a mobbed event providing glimpses of the new action game "Just Cause 3" set for release in December.
SubPac provides body-shaking bass without annoying neighbors with blaring speakers or risking ear-damaging sound levels in head phones, Jaffe said.
SubPac "tactile bass system" was born from a successful crowdfunding campaign and began with a focus on music. The first version shipped in late 2013, and some of the pads have been used for low-frequency vibration therapy.
The latest model is priced at $379 at thesubpac.com, with shipping slated to begin in mid-July.
© 2015 AFP
