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AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Create a sensation of falling by messing with the inner ear. | |
Those of you have been lucky enough to see a good IMAX movie know that you can get the sensation of flight from seeing it displayed realisticly enough. Your mind essentially ignores what your inner ear is telling you because it "knows" that it's wrong. This doesn't happen for a less realisticly protrayed
display, such as the ones found in a computer game. Thus, IMAX in a sense has tactile feedback, while games do not. (IMAX "flight" is so much better than force-feedback that I choose to ignore it. The computer moving my joystick around for me is NOT what I consider tactile feedback.) What I propose is a system based on either infrasound or low voltage electrodes that stimulates the inner ear to give a sensation of acceleration. Such a system, in conjuntion with a high quality flight simulation, would be really fun. It wouldn't have to be based on reality either, although that's certainly a possibility. You could have a "game" consisting of that dream some people have where you can fly like Superman.
Vertigo FAQ
http://vertigo.upmc.com/Faqs.htm
Curiously, this has quelled any desire whatsoever to 'mess' with my inner ear. [idyll, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]
Cobra Technologies Servovalve and Electronic Controller
http://www.flightge...Chair/raychair.html
[phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]
Rock'n'Ride Personal Motion Simulator
http://shop.rightth...th=8&products_id=17
Commercial version of above. [phoenix, Oct 04 2004, last modified Dec 06 2004]
[link]
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Induced Vertigo? (A visualisation of Supermen and Superwomen falling all over themselves, emblazoned with vomit-encrusted 'S' insignias.) |
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I remember seeing something related to this in a television programme once. Instead of producing vertigo, the aim was to produce a feeing of tilt in the wearer. |
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The user was blindfolded and stood barefoot on a gel mat (to stifle balance feedback from the feet). Electromagnets in a headband affected the inner ear and made people feel a tilt in one direction and caused them to lean in the opposite direction to counter it. The bad news was that the effect was unreliable and caused tilts in opposite directions in different people. Disappointingly, I can't find anything on google about this. |
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Could you produce vertigo without nausea? |
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Alfred Hitchcock did. I didn't feel nauseous *once* during that movie :-) |
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sambwiches: I was going to get all pedantic on you, but an IMBD search showed that not only did Hitchcock direct Vertigo, but he was also one of the three producers. Damn. |
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Ahem, please do not question my knowledge of Hollywood, kind sir *nudges reading spectacles further up nose* B-) |
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//Ahem, please do not question my knowledge of Hollywood, kind sir *nudges reading spectacles further up nose* B-)// |
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...pressing them into the bridge of the nose with one's middle finger... |
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A great movie, Vertigo is also the origin of that famous "dolly out, zoom in" effect that has been seen in about 1,000 movies and TV shows since. |
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Will
"infrasound or low voltage electrodes that stimulates the inner ear to give a sensation of acceleration"
work?
Would it be cheaper than doing it the old fashioned way? |
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I don't think I want something that might possibly malfunction messing with my complex inner workings - especially over a game. What's more, I fear my psychology may be affected - in a bad way. I'm afeared. |
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// ... stimulates the inner ear to give a sensation of acceleration. // |
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I can't imagine this is possible. |
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phoenix, pray tell, what is the old-fashioned way? Flinging one's elf about in all directions? I think I like the moving chair concept better, but I'm still a little concerned what will happen if you crash your sim-plane. Does the chair become a twisted mass of tangled metal? Or is it a tangled mass of twisted metal? |
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XSarenkaX, I am afeared as well, but my psychology was already affected just by coming here! |
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I'd always thought that technique was developed for Jaws, [krel]. It seems my movie knowledge *can* be questioned - *removes 'spectacles of Hollywood knowledge', clings more tightly to 'contact lenses of pointless trivia'* :-) |
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I suppose electromagnets could affect the inner ear by inducing a current there. I am not sure how directional such a thing would be - I would worry about inducing a current in the brain. |
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[canuck] i'm afriad i don't understand. how does flinging an elf around achive anything? |
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in general, i'm wary of systems that screw with my inner anything, ear or brain or what have you... i would want a lot of guarantees that there would be no way for the gadget to accidentally render me deaf or something... |
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I want someone to do the exact opposite of what this idea is proposing, so my sister would ride roller coasters with me. It's the one thing we've never done together. |
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This is baked in reverse. Some people have problems with the I-E that result in erroneous signals being sent to the brain, totally bollixing their sense of balance. Implants are available that fix this condition. What I'm proposing is to induce the problem for a little while, an a very precise manner. It shouldn't be THAT dangerous. Muhuhahahahha. |
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Screwing around with the inner ear, should you be so reckless as to do so, won't give you a real "sensation of acceleration." The rest of the body -- muscles and tendons which provide constant sensory feedback to keep you balanced -- will know that you're just sitting still. The result, I imagine, would be a pretty strange and unpleasant discordance, not the realistic thrill you're looking for. |
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Ah, but it will Hob. It already does for those who have permanent damage to the I-E. It already does when people are subjected to stimulation of the I-E in labs. |
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I should mention that I'm not proposing implants or anything crazy like that. I belive neurologists often stimulate nerves using equipment similar to MRIs, and the magnetic pulse can be precise enough to target single neurons. It's safe and effective. |
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//...safe and effective.// ...but unpleasant. I think the average game player's experience will involve very real sensations triggered by the accelleration of, um, lunch. |
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If you use "infrasound" to do this, you'll have to use a pretty big set of headphones. I'm imagining a headset with wonderfully large pipe organ components sprouting from the sides. |
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You might be right, but maybe not. What I really want is the feeling of falling like a rock, a la IMAX movie. That by definition includes no feedback from the muscles because there's nothing for the arms and legs to push against- you are falling. (Like a rock no less!) |
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Give me a bag of feathers anytime - to land on. |
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Madcat: "That by definition includes no feedback from the muscles because there's nothing for the arms and legs to push against"... well that's my point exactly; when you're *not* falling, your whole body feels your weight, so when you are falling, it feels entirely different. Same if you're subjected to sudden acceleration, you don't just sense it with your inner ear. People with ear damage have all kinds of crazy sensations but they're not quite the same as what you'd get with real movement. You may be looking at amazing computer graphics and having your ears frazzled with magnets, but if your butt is still planted in a chair there's a limit to the illusion. |
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I might warm to this idea though, if I can get assurance in writing that I will never, ever be asked to experience this illusion. |
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So, in reality, it would feel more like the whole room is falling instead of just you. |
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//so my sister would ride roller coasters with me. It's the one thing we've never done together// |
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[pericles] please tell me its not the ONLY thing you haven't done with your sister. |
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