Philips aims to bring gaming to a whole new level of interaction with their new amBX technology and PC peripheral lineup. amBX (which stands for “Ambient Experiences” is best described by Philips in their press material so I’ll quote them here:

amBX is essentially middleware incorporating a software engine with a scripting language. It drives external devices to reach with the game content on-screen and deliver an enhanced experience into the room by rendering sensory stimuli

Get it? Remember Philips Ambilight technology which changes ambient light colors based on the content displayed? Well this takes that concept even further. Depending on the game content, you the gamer get to experience a whole new level of sensory stimulations – whether it’s lights glowing to match the scene, or fans blowing into your face because something blew up in front of you or your wrist rumbles because of a rocket going off etc.  Philips amBX brings light, surround sound, air movements, and vibrations into play to fully immerse the gamer in their games!

While gaming is the primary focus of the amBX technology at firt, Philips will be coming out with additional software applications that allow amBX technology to be utilized in non gaming applications such as multimedia playback and web browsing.

Here are some of the Philips peripherals designed for amBX technology:

• Left and Right front lights – “The color and intensity will change in reaction to events on-screen creating mood and capturing emotion. amBX-enabled lighting helps to bring the game experience out of the screen into the whole room”
• Set of fans – “Will direct airflow at the player when instructed by the amBXâ„¢ software engine. Imagine being able to feel the wind from a plane or the blast from an explosion.”
• Wrist rumbler – “Vibration will be synchronized with travel over rough ground or mid-air turbulence. Now you can feel the games on top of watching and hearing them”
• Directional wall washer light and controller unit – “The wall behind the PC set-up can be flooded with light according to prescripted amBXâ„¢ instructions. It is also the central controller unit to which all other components connect”
• Left and right 2.1 speaker lights and subwoofer – “2.1 output will give your games multi directional sound for added realism. Combined with the lights you get the whole lot and save space”

Philips amBX is currently targeting the PC platform although Philips is planning to spread this technology to the game console market as well. No word as of yet on amBX pricing.

Here are additional pictures that I took of the amBX peripherals at CES 2007:

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