By Andrew Liszewski
Even though the graphics in racing games like Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing are incredibly realistic these days, if you were hoping to recreate the feel of tearing down the road in your favorite high-performance sports car, sitting on a couch with a vibrating controller in your hand just doesn’t cut it. You’ll need to upgrade to something like the Force Dynamics 301 simulator, even if it means ditching that couch to make room.
Believe it or not the 301 is actually one of the smallest full-motion simulators on the market, and is low enough to the ground that you don’t need a ladder or extra steps to climb in and out of the sunken racing seat. The motion is provided by 3 ball-screw based linear actuators that feature 18 inches of travel and 500lbs of peak thrust each. It also features a raised center of rotation that “provides superior onset cueing compared to existing motion systems, and reduces parasitic forces that cause motion sickness.” Supposedly fewer than 1% of the riders that have used the Force Dynamics 301 have experienced motion sickness. And while the simulator is marketed as being ‘low-cost’, something tells me the $15,000 price tag is going to keep it from being the hot-ticket item this Christmas.
[ Force Dynamics 301 Simulator ] VIA [ Planeta Gadget ]
The 401 looks to be a better machine.
Erm, well given it’s a fucking 301 but with extra hardware to add yaw that’s hardly 1st class detective work is it…