Flexound Pulse Seat Concept creates Personal Sound Bubbles for Movie Watchers

Flexound Pulse – Your Personal Sound Bubble

The Flexound Pulse, a cinema seating solution from Flexound Augmented Audio, generates a personal sound bubble around movie-watchers using multisensory technology, promising a full-range quality audio experience without the necessity of external loudspeakers. The company calls it a unique, holistic, immersive listening experience that you can feel as well as hear. 

The Flexound Augmented Audio vibro-acoustic experience was created to aid autistic youngsters and uses physical soundwave vibration to provide multisensory audio. The first commercial applications were in movie theatre seating, with a cinema in Finland setting things off in February 2019, Ferco Seating in the UK gaining official certification for two enhanced versions in June, and TGV Cinemas installing 140 Ferco Milano seats in a Malaysian theatre in November. More movie theatres have since been built.

Automobile Driver Specific Seat

Automakers may use the technology to create personalised sound zones in automobiles, provide driver-only tactile input, or provide sound massages to passengers. Hyundai showcased use cases for automotive applications at an event in December of last year, when the firm announced it was collaborating with a number of automakers to bring its full-frequency near-field listening experience to future automobiles.

Pulse Chair

The Flexound technology of the Pulse chair consists of a vibrating soundboard and an electromagnetic driver built into the seating cushion. The Pulse configuration is said to create a kind of personal listening booth where seated users can hear as well as feel the audio accompanying a movie, according to the company. People can feel frequencies up to 500 hertz through their bodies, with the hands and skin reaching up to 1,000 Hz.

Flexound Augmented Audio, unlike loudspeakers that vibrate sound into the air, spreads the vibration through foam, creating a gentle, near-field listening experience, according to the manufacturer.

Similar & Surround Sound

Flexound Pulse is said to provide a similar surround sound audio quality and touch sensation for each user, regardless of where they are in the movie theatre, and can do so without the theatre having to pump out huge volumes, so sound leakage from room to room should be significantly reduced compared to traditional far-field loudspeaker technology.

After testing the system, veteran sound engineer Riku Jaro stated, “Flexound Pulse makes every chair the ‘golden chair’ [in the cinema] since it gives the optimal sound equally to every listener.”

Versatile technology

Beyond cinema and automobiles applications, the Flexound Augmented Audio innovation can be embedded in “pretty much anything soft and comes into contact with the body,” according to the company, which means it could end up in home theatres, gaming chairs, boardroom appliances, entertainment mall seating, relaxation therapy rooms, and other places.

The Flexound Pulse is said to be available for pre-order from movie theatres or licencing to furniture and seating companies.