新型体感“耳机” 用胸部听声音

    Sure, you’ve played Halo: Reach on your Xbox 360, but have you felt it yet? That’s the idea behind Kor-fx, an audio accessory* by developer Immerz.

    You drape* it around your shoulders, allowing a pair of strategically placed speakers to rest — and rumble — on your chest.

    The speakers (which plug into a Walkman-sized control box, into which you can plug a game console or a smartphone) send low-frequency vibrations into your chest cavity* that — as Immerz puts it — activate* “neural pathways that subconsciously monitor vibrations of the chest cavity that naturally occur when speaking, laughing, or crying,” giving you “a heightened emotional, sensory response” to the movie you’re watching, or the game you’re playing.

    The best way to describe Kor-fx, to go on sale in late March, is as a rumble pack for your body that gives you an uncanny*, “you-are-there” feeling.

    The developers at Immerz said that Kor-fx is “part technology, part psychology,” with the device basically using your chest cavity as a “resonating chamber” — in other words, Kor-fx turns you into a “biological subwoofer*.”

    Still, there is room for improvement with Kor-fx. For one, the Kor-fx controller box (which comes with a dial for controlling the intensity of the rumble) is too big to look smart; hopefully, it will be pared down in future versions.

    Also, the slated price tag — US$189 — is too expensive.

    Immerz reps also said they’re hoping to bring Kor-fx to movie theaters, where moviegoers would be able to wear the speakers for the price of a premium* ticket. Another possibility: custom-designed Kor-fx movie soundtracks to create special, low-frequency effects, like a silent but obvious flutter across your chest when the ghosties in “Paranormal Activity” are on the move.

    (SD-Agencies)