Control system for the Schaire Internet chair

We have developed second-generation prototypes of the Internet chair, a novel Internet appliance. The first generation explored using the chair as an input device; "Schaire", the prototype described here, is a pivot (swivel, rotating) chair deployed as an output device, a rotary motion platform information appliance. Its haptic display modality is yaw, dynamically synchronized with wireless visual displays and spatial audio in a rotation-invariant virtual space. In groupware situations, like teleconferencing, chat spaces, or multiplayer gaming, such orientation is also used to twist iconic representations of a seated user, avatars in a virtual world, enabling social situation awareness. Using its audio display modality, "nearphones" embedded in the seat headrest, the system can present unencumbered binaural sound with soundscape stabilization for multichannel sound image localization. As a haptic output modality, chairs with servomotors render kinesthetic and proprioceptive cues, twisting under networked control, to direct the attention of a seated users like a "dark ride" amusement park attraction or under active user control, local and/or distributed. The Schaire, manifesting as personal LBE (location-based entertainment) can be used in both stand-alone and networked applications.