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Powersoft shakes up VR space travel

Powersoft’s compact transducer, Mover, and its Quattrocanali and Duecanali amplifiers play an important role in “The Moon Cruise”, an innovative VR installation in Tokyo that opened its doors to the public on November 22, 2024. “The Moon Cruise” offers visitors an immersive VR journey to the moon, a view of Earth from space, and the opportunity to walk on the lunar surface and take photos that they can download as souvenirs.

“The Moon Cruise” is a free-roaming VR experience permanently installed in a new space experience facility themed around “space travel” called Space Travelium TeNQ. “The space entertainment facility has permanent and special exhibits, as well as workshops to provide visitors with a single world-view learning experience”, says Tsuyoshi Nomura, executive officer at Styly Inc., in charge of designing the experience.

Integrated by Audio Visual Communications Ltd., the installation simulates a rocket launch and a lunar exploration. “It transforms limited physical space into boundless virtual environments”, says Ken Yamada, deputy general manager at Audio Visual Communications. “The rocket launch scene, powered by Powersoft Mover transducers and the Quattrocanali and Duecanali amplifiers, combines sound vibration and VR visuals for an unforgettable sensory experience.”

“Our goal was to provide a realistic experience and surprise visitors”, says Yamada. However, creating a convincing rocket launch experience in a confined and low-maintenance environment originally posed some challenges. According to Nomura, traditional large-scale motion platforms were impractical due to their size, maintenance requirements and safety concerns. “It was necessary to take a different approach, and we achieved both goals by designing new, easy-to-maintain fixtures and combining them with Mover.”

Powersoft’s Mover is a patented low-frequency direct-drive/tactile transducer adaptable for various purposes. It lets audiences feel the sound through haptic perception by vibrating the surrounding environment, which the human body picks up, and through bone conduction, that stimulates the inner ear, translating the vibrations into perceivable frequencies.

To provide a synchronised sensory experience for the rocket launch, five Mover ID transducers are installed into bench seats, delivering powerful vibrations of replicating the low frequency from the BEC IC-120 speakers to create a cohesive audio-tactile effect. MoverIDs are powered by Quattrocanali 1204 DSP and Duecanali 804 DSP amplifiers, provided by Audiobrains, Powersoft’s Japanese distributor.

For the VR content design, Nomura emphasised the importance of the journey visitors take on foot to their destination. “The narrative centres around travelling to the moon, focusing particularly on the path to the lunar surface”, he explains. “By emphasising the impact and experience at the departure point, it makes the visual-only walking on the lunar surface afterward feel more realistic. Since the entire facility provides a learning experience, the content encourages the visitors to reflect and act independently, rather than only focusing on the story.”

The collaboration between Styly and Audio Visual Communications was integral to the project’s success. According to Yamada, initial tests showed that Mover provided stronger vibration from bone-conduction effects than competitor products. Additionally, the ability to apply sub-harmonics with the Quattrocanali and Duecanali amplifiers was appealing, allowing for the reproduction of the ultra-low frequencies, necessary for rocket reproduction, without the need for additional equipment.

“Vibration and sound are not separable”, says Nomura. “During an actual rocket launch, unimaginable vibrations and energy from the loud noise would impact the body. Mover, which vibrates with the sound source and transmits vibrations in sync with the powerful sounds that are linked with the visuals, makes it possible to create an experience that feels as if you are actually launching into space.”

(Photos: Powersoft)

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