Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video)

Hiding in the back of the SIGGRAPH Emerging Technologies demo area -- exactly where such a project might belong -- is a dark wood chair that looks anything but innocent. Created by a team at the University of Electro-Communications in Toyko, Chilly Chair, as it's called, may be a reference to the chilling feeling the device is tasked with invoking. After signing a liability waiver, attendees are welcomed to pop a squat before resting their arms atop a cool, flat metal platform hidden beneath a curved sheath that looks like something you may expect to see in Dr. Frankenstein's lab, not a crowded corridor of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Once powered up, the ominous-looking contraption serves to "enrich" the experience as you consume different forms of media, be it watching a movie or listening to some tunes. It works by using a power source to pump 10 kV of juice to an electrode, which then polarizes a dielectric plate, causing it to attract your body hair.

After signing our life away with the requisite waiver, we sat down and strapped in for the ride. Despite several minutes of build-up, the entire experience concluded in what seemed like only a few seconds. A projection screen in front of the chair lit up to present a warning just as we felt the hairs jet directly towards the sheath above. By the time we rose, there was no visual evidence of the previous state, though we have no doubt that the Chilly Chair succeeded in raising hair (note: the experience didn't come close to justifying the exaggerated reaction you may have noticed above). It's difficult to see how this could be implemented in future home theater setups, especially considering all the extra hardware currently required, but it could potentially add another layer of immersion to those novelty 4D attractions we can't seem to avoid during visits to the amusement park. You can witness our Chilly Chair experience in the hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Chilly Chair hands-on

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Filed under: Household, Science

Chilly Chair uses static electricity to raise your arm hair, force an 'emotional reaction' (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xiaomi Phone 2 may debut on August 16th, packaging will withstand 180kg of force

Amid rumors that Chinese startup Xiaomi will soon be bringing out its next-gen Android smartphone, various spy shots have been circulating around the web. However, a company representative has already shot them down by claiming they were all rejected designs, though the same person told CNMO that the so-called "Xiaomi Phone 2" will feature a larger display as well as Qualcomm's quad-core chip clocked at 1.5GHz. If true, this would make the new Xiaomi Phone officially the first smartphone to pack the beefy APQ8064 silicon, which should be no surprise given the tight partnership between Xiaomi and Qualcomm -- not to mention that the latter is also a notable investor of the phone maker. As to when we'll know the truth, Sina Tech is reporting that according to an insider, Xiaomi will be hosting the launch event on August 16th and will, oddly enough, offer tickets to non-media attendees for ¥199 (about $30) per head. On the contrary, fans were able to just walk into the unveiling of the original Xiaomi Phone -- three million of which have been sold as of June.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun and his colleagues have been showing off the minimalistic, eco-friendly packaging of their upcoming second-gen smartphone -- more pics after the break. And as before, the company pulled the standing-on-box stunt again, only this time they bumped the weight from 85kg to 180kg which obviously required an extra fellow, as you can see above. Looks like the new MIUI flagship device is all set for a safe delivery -- all we need now is a price.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Xiaomi Phone 2 may debut on August 16th, packaging will withstand 180kg of force originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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