What happens when you bring together cutting edge gaming technology and a legendary automotive company? The answer is one of the most powerful home racing simulators money can buy, the TL1. Motion Simulation has joined forces with the U.K. automaker behind the Ariel Atom, creating a simulator in a class of its own, featuring near panoramic projectors, and a custom built racing cockpit designed in conjunction with the experts from Ariel.
Like the TOOB, the TL1 gets it visual prowess from a spherical projection system. The player sits at the center of 180-degree curved two-meter (6.56 ft) wide screen, providing an immersion factor not possible with your average monitor. The resolution is equally staggering, with the choice of either 3840 x 800 (around 3 million pixels) or 5,760 x 1,200 (around 7 million) resolution options. The seat can also be rotated to match your virtual vehicle of choice, going from Touring and GT car positions to Eurofighter, right up to the extreme seating angles of a Starfighter or Formula 1 car.
While this rig is already drool-worthy for racing fans, Motion Simulation also makes it very clear that the TL1 can be used for more than just racing, calling it a "Flight and First-Person-Shooter Simulator." The system features an integrated Windows PC with a powerful graphics card that can be used to to run just about anything. FPS games are specifically recommended, and I can only imagine how intense it would be to watch the bullets whiz by on the curved display. Additionally, you can plug in any game console, further expanding the library of compatible titles.
Before you go moving any furniture, I must warn you - gaming this well doesn't come cheap. Designed for both domestic and commercial users, taking a virtual spin in the TL1 is going to cost you about as much as buying an actual vehicle - although any vehicle you get around the same price point probably isn't going to perform quite like the virtual ones you'll be piloting in the TL1.
Here's a price breakdown:
TL1 (Screen and seat only) from £11,500 (US$18,540)
- 180 degree, spherical screen
- All composite body panels in any standard colour
- Multiple seating angle cockpit
- Adjustable pedal plate
- Adjustable steering column
- Storage space for PC and games console
- Cable management system for each connection of PC and controls
- Built and tested by Ariel trained technicians in the United Kingdom
TL1s (on board PC ready to play) from £16,500 ($26,600)
- Three projectors, tested, aligned and set up @ 3 million pixels
- High performance integrated PC
- High performance steering wheel and pedal set
- Motion cockpit floor through high frequency transducers
- Headphones
- Audio output for surround sound system
TL1 Professional (ultra high performance) from £33,950 ($54,730)
- Three projectors, color balanced, tested, aligned, 24/7 operation @ 7 million pixels
- Ultra high performance integrated PC
- High performance or optional Professional steering wheel and pedal set
- Motion cockpit floor with multiple high frequency transducers
- Headphones
- Audio output from surround sound system
- Branding options
A cockpit-only TL1c will also be available in the future.
The unit measures 2,708 mm (8.88 ft) wide, 2,355 mm (7.73 ft) deep, and 1,985 mm (6.51 ft) high - or 1,917 mm (6.29 ft) with the roof off. If your wallet's deep enough, this could be the next best thing to hitting the raceway - short of actually renting time at your local track anyway, which in this case may actually be cheaper.
Source: Motion Simulation via Autoblog
