Powersoft’s compact transducer, Mover, and its Quattrocanali and Duecanali amplifiers played a role in The Moon Cruise, a VR installation in Japan that takes visitors on an immersive journey to the moon.
The Moon Cruise opened its doors to the public in November in Tokyo. It 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.
Styly was tasked with an ambitious brief to create a VR experience that simulates the universe, all within the existing architecture. “The area we oversaw is permanently installed, free-roaming (walking around) VR experience. There are many event-style virtual reality environments, but nothing like this has been permanently installed on such a large scale,” says Tsuyoshi Nomura, executive officer at Styly.
Integrated by Audio Visual Communications, 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.”
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. This setup ensures a realistic rocket launch experience by combining audio and tactile feedback with virtual reality content to create an immersive journey to the moon.