Company Files Patent for Motion Simulating Gaming Chair

gamerant.com:

Video games allow for deeper immersion than other visual entertainment mediums like film and television. Allowing players to take control of a character, or otherwise interact with the virtual world of a game lets players inhabit that world for a period of time. For a long time, companies have been trying to find ways of increasing this player immersion, which has lead to huge advancements in VR games in recent years.

However, video games are slightly held back in the pursuit of immersion by the fact that they are primarily dependent on audio and visual feedback to the player. For most players, the only haptic connection to a game is through the controller, which can only convey so much through rumbling, although the PS5 DualShock 5 controller has seen improvements to immersion through controller vibration.

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Now a haptic technology company called D-BOX is looking to bridge the gap between standard controller feedback, and highly specialized simulator rigs. The company is looking to do this with its new patent for a gaming chair with a built-in actuator which is able to connect to a PC or console in order to simulate in-game movements to the player. The chair will likely be most suited for simulation driving games where it could emulate the road surface the player is driving on in relation to the speed of the vehicle.

Gaming chairs have become an extremely popular choice for many players, especially those that use PC or desk-based setups. Gaming chairs also come in a wide variety of designs, and so, this makes it a good base design choice for D-BOX's motion simulating chair. What makes D-BOX's patented design unique among gaming chairs, however, is the actuator found