Just when I thought I was finished covering space tourism for the day, along comes a device that can simulate space tourism. I guess the $200,000 price for a ticket is just too much for some people, like me.

The Soyuz Chair is able to take the experience of a Soyuz rocket, and put it in the user’s living room. When the user sits in the chair, it can recline and I would imagine there would be some shaking and rumbling for blastoff. I believe the headphones are there for added realism.

I can’t help but be reminded of a ride at Disneyland called Flight to Mars. I went on it when I visited Tomorrowland in 1989, and I’m pretty sure that it has been removed by now. The ride had vibrating seats and a screen on the floor and ceiling to simulate the historic flight to Mars.

It was quite lame, and there wasn’t much of a line on this ride. In fact, I’m certain that this ride has been far overshadowed by Star Tours and other cooler rides.

The Soyuz chair was created by Nelly Ben Hayoun for the Royal College of Art’s Design Interactions Thesis show. As far as I know, there doesn’t seem to be any plans to mass-market this product, but I’d like to see who would buy this.

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