At 40W and 1.25A the vest can blast you off your chair if you crank the volume.
No kidding, the output of this device will surprise you!
The genius of the vest is that you can use it wherever you go.
It's easily portable, you can even plug it into your stereo or your home theatre system!
The Interactor is a rigid plastic backpack – the manufacturer calls it a “vest” – that houses the essential speaker and vibrator device.
Additionally, the Interactor includes a heavy-duty UL-listed transformer and a power amplifier and control unit. As suggested by the graphic from the Interactor box, it can also be attached to any device with a stereo output, such as a television, VCR, stereo receiver, or game console, though you may need an inexpensive stereo adapter.
Other uses:
(Caution - Don't let your kids get hold of it or you may never see it again!)
The Interactor box includes connection adapters for legacy Sega™ Genesis™ and Super Nintendo® game consoles, and these adapters may also work for later versions of these and similar game consoles.
Setup and Documentation
Setting up the Interactor is very simple. You plug the line cord of the 35-watt transformer to a 240-volt, 60 Hz power-pack, (not supplied), and you plug the transformer output cord into the power amplifier.
(The power-pack supplied is for US standards which cannot be used in Australia - Dick Smith can supply the correct pack very cheaply.)
The transformer is Underwriters Laboratories-approved for electrical safety, and it includes two power outputs in its one output cord – probably for powering the two stereo channels in the power amplifier. The power amplifier includes several controls, which are completely explained in the instruction booklet, depending on the source to which you’re connecting.
In this example, you plug the power amplifier into your computer sound card, or motherboard sound outlet, with the included cord with a mini stereo plug on each end.
If you don’t have a spare speaker or headset output on your sound card or motherboard, you’ll need to purchase an inexpensive one-male/two-female “Y” connector – which the package I purchased calls a “3.5mm mini plug splitter jack.” I found it at an electronics store for about five dollars.
Lastly, you plug the Interactor “vest” (backpack) into the power amplifier by means of its included 10-foot long cord.
The cord is permanently connected to the Interactor and it connects to the control unit with an RCA-type plug.
Finally, you strap on the backpack, or strap it to a chair and you’re ready to test it.
How does it work? Examining the Interactor’s backpack, my impression is that it’s a “sub-sub-woofer” – meaning a speaker that operates in so low a frequency range that many of the frequencies are just felt, not heard.
Through open slots in the plastic housing, you can see what looks like the center of a large speaker, but instead of the usual paper cone, or diaphragm, it looks like the moving portion of the speaker is mechanically connected to the backpack itself.
The result is that low frequency sounds are transmitted by the sound card, amplified by the Interactor’s power amplifier, then converted to both low frequency sounds and vibrations, which you feel on your back.
Turning up the volume control noticeably increases the vibrations! Truly, it will “rattle your bones!”
If you find it to be cumbersome to strap on the Interactor for each use, another suggestion that I’ve followed: strap the Interactor to your chair, and it will pass the vibrations through the chair to your body.
Originally we strapped the Interactor to front side of a chair back, so I was sitting against it during operation.
Subsequently, we have strapped our Interactor's to the backs of our chairs, and this mounting still provides very convincing sensations.
Another excellent suggestion is to place the Interactor in a cushion or bean-bag for comfort of operation.