IFA 2006: Philips continues plight to immerse gamers with amBX

31 August 2006 17:11 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Not content with immersing movie watchers with light with the company's Ambilight televisions, Philips has announced more plans for its amBX gaming experience we first reported on in November 2005.

amBX has been designed to immerse the gamer further into computer games or movies by enabled devices such as LED colour-controlled lights, active furniture, fans, heaters, audio and video, which are all placed in the user's room allowing games developers to have control over these accessories.

“Imagine the room of the future, where all electronic devices are amBX-enabled. The treacherous road to Saigon will turn your room jungle green, swimming with dolphins will splash it deep blue, 'Halo' jumps will turn your fans on full, lightning storms will strobe your white lighting, and attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion will blast on your heaters”, Philips said in a press release.

Philips made the announcement at a packed press conference at IFA 2006 in Berlin, Germany. Hardware will be available for THQ's Broken Sword: The Angel of Death available later this year which uses some of the amBX features in the game.

The license agreement with THQ will enable it to deliver Broken Sword: The Angel of Death as the first of a series of amBX-enabled games.

According to Philips, it has worked closely with THQ to provide the resources and technology to develop the game alongside the new amBX technology.

The core hardware elements of Philips’ amBX peripherals include a series of LED based multi-color lights that engage the eyes and increase realism, a 2.1 speaker sound system providing booming audio that gives authenticity to the rumble of thunder or the blast of a gunshot, several fans that bathe gamers in air movement and wind effects, and a vibration unit that conveys the action and excitement completely in sync with the game situation

We will keep you posted.