Feature Comparisons of Sound Tables and Vibrotactile Tables.
InnerSense incorporated in 1984 with a technology called VibraSound®. We’re now in our 13 generation of and are considered by many (except for competitors) to represent state of the art in this field. For many years we shared the market with just a few others such as Somatron, Cotyledon and the Betar. As far as we know these three along with VibraSound® were the first in the US to offer such vibrational technologies.
Of course such technologies have existed since the beginning of history with evidence that the Egyptians and Sumerians had a vast knowledge of how sound vibrations effect humans. In modern times a Norwegian named Olav Skille, bought this technology to public attention around 1968. Over the past 25 years or so, many people entered this field, but because it was so new, unknown, untested, ridiculed by both the medical and acoustic establishments, had possible regulatory issues and such a small marketplace for a lot of competitors…it’s been extremely slow to manifest itself in a way that would bring it to everyone’s attention, and many have dropped out. We’ve been one of the fortunate ones to have lasted this long and are still going strong.
However, recent exposure of this technology brought about by enthusiastic sound therapy organizations and academic researchers like the TransTech Lab along with the sudden availability of inexpensive tactile transducers have brought about a sudden explosion in competition with many suddenly entering the market. This has put a real strain on sharing the limited number of buyers currently seeking to own such systems. I guess it’s all good and will shake itself out again in the long run, and like they say, competition is the greatest form of flattery. It’s funny how a lot of this new generation of seekers believes that they have suddenly discovered all of this. So it might be an interesting side note that were some of us building prototypes in the 60’s and 70’s as a result of the revealed knowledge that came to us during the first psychedelic generation.
Ever since then we’ve been trying to create technology that can replace those feelings without the side effects that come through ingesting a chemical. It makes much more sense to create them inside you own mind since we know that anything the blood/brain barrier allows inside are things that it has receptors for and usually makes itself. Notice, I used the word “feeling”. We write a prescription to “feel” a certain way…well, this sense of feeling has more or less lain dormant within our DNA since we were amoebas having to feel around for our food. Modern society is almost exclusively audio visual with very few people out there that can really feel things. Those people have become our present day psychics, artists, dancers and therapists. This is the perfect time for vibrational therapy to make its appearance on the world scene. It will bring us all back to feeling reality with our bodies as the ultimate antenna for the cosmic mind that knows what’s really going on. At the very least it will balance out the NLP profile of human beings such that they become proficient at seeing, hearing and feeling reality.
Psychedelics too have seen a recent major comeback from the 60’s…the second psychedelic generation has arrived. The two seem to be related and somehow go together. The vibrotactile experience opens up new doors for sound and music and allows them to enter the body for a much more visceral experience that is very much like that obtained with substances that bring about altered states, especially those whose effects brought about more focus on the body, like MDMA. There’s a pharmacy inside our brain and we’re the pharmacist…we can write a prescription to feel anyway we want. However, most people will instead all someone else or a situation they’re in write the prescription for them. Teaching them how to feel things again, we believe, can change the world.
The most important thing to understand about vibrational tables is that there’s a huge difference between sound and tactile vibration. Although most people, even professionals, refer to these devices as sound tables, there’s a distinction between systems that use speakers to make sound versus ones that use force transducers to make tactile vibrations. And, they can be embodied as a bed, table, chair or pad. These two different types of vibration enter the body through separate and totally different sensory mechanisms. Sound, of course, enters through the eardrum and its associated auditory nerve, whereas tactile vibrations enter through the skin via the Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles embedded within. This opens up a wider bandwidth of vibrational sensitivity since the eardrum is limited to 20 Hz on the lower end. The tactile corpuscles can operate down to nearly DC current. Many researchers in the field of tactile vibrations have found that the lower vibrations have more effect on the body with many people unable to feel vibrations much beyond 200 Hz. So, technically these are vibrotactile tables and chairs instead of sound tables and chairs.
Recent scientific publications have revealed something that we’ve known for a long time. The largest organ in the body is the Integumentary system (above) which connects all of the other body components. This organ represents the outside envelope and membrane of the body wherein lie all of the body’s sensors. This membrane represents the present moment. Everything outside is the past whereas everything inside is the future…but that is another story. Vibrotactile therapy assists users into getting more in the present moment. We’ve designed our platforms to deliver the maximum quantity and quality of vibrations directly to this membrane. This “sense of time” might also be an important thing to look into with your research. Our theory of the “unit of time perspective” shows how the present moment begins to widen such that more and more of the past and future are allowed into the present moment. But, that also is another long story.
Vibrotactile sensations are picked up by this system and distributed to all of the other organs. How this occurs might be a good subject to research. How does a wave travel through the body? The integument holds onto tension as a dielectric charge across the membrane. We believe that sound and tactical vibration shakes off the tension by removing the charge. This might be a good claim for you to rese
A further distinction exists between Oscillation and Vibration. An oscillator vibrates every part of an object or subject such as in Whole Body Vibrators. Electro-physical force transducers like the BassShaker, Sound Beam, Butt-Kicker and Clarke Transducers are basically oscillators when they are mounted in the standard configuration against a solid surface. They’re relatively small, convert most of the sound into tactile vibration and produce much lower end vibrations than small speakers. However, it’s easy to distort them and they don’t produce quality sound. Speakers on the other hand produce a much higher quality of sound and provide a wider range of frequencies. Unfortunately, small speakers don’t provide enough bass and will overheat if driven hard enough to produce a sufficient amount. So, force transducers are usually used on massage table versions, chairs and pads.
Vibration, as opposed to oscillation occurs when the individual components inside of a closed membrane are caused to vibrate. With vibration, it’s possible to vibrate specific components like organs, tissues, cells, molecules, atoms, primary particles and even the force field of a human being. If 100 hertz is put into an oscillation table it will vibrate every component within the body at 100 Hz. However, if the same 100 Hz is generated into a vibrational table, only those components that are resonant to 100 Hz will resonate to the signal.
The VibraSound® Hydrosonic Wavetable utilizes a colloidal fluid filled mattress that was specifically designed to deliver maximum pure signal to the integumentary system such that it distributes it to the other body components. It uses much larger 15” modified flat cone diaphragms for more power and a 5” flat wound, ferro-fluid filled coil to prevent overheating. A component called a “spider” is usually used on a speaker to keep it from distorting and flatten its frequency response. However, these transducers are made without concern for that but rather for maximum excursion of the diagram. Their output is conditioned by a proprietary zero impedance loss processor that perfectly flattens the response after the sound has passed through the fluid. It provides oscillation through the frame and membrane, while supplying vibration via the conditioned fluid.
A good word that describes a system like this is vibroacoustic…consisting of both modes at the same time. These features provide extremely low bass, wider frequency response (5-500 Hz.), maximum thrust, purest sound, minimum maintenance and protection from failure. Research has shown that certain parts of the body can feel the higher frequencies so some part of the signal is lost when using force transducers. VibraSound® transducers begin to trail off at 1000 Hz. So, if specific frequencies are required to be delivered to certain parts of the body, vibration is the only approach
without creating a lot of noise for the dissonant parts. The scientific literature is full of studies verifying the efficacy of sound and music therapy. Some have validated the effects of vibrotactile therapy.1
Most of our “research” has been focused on consilience evidence based personal experience and performing a lot of before and after queries about their journey. On top of the fact that sound and music have been known for thousands of years as being efficacious for many human ailments and inspiration…we have hundreds of testimonials and endorsements from all over of the world from professionals and non-professionals that claim:
• Profound relaxation and inspiration at the same time
• Life-changing epiphanies and Aha! moments
• Goosebumps of ecstasy all over the body
• Reduction of stress and anxiety
• Increased ease of making choices and decisions
• ANS balance and tension reduction as shown by HRV
• Lowered pulse rate and blood pressure…or,
• Elevated stimulation using music that pumps one up
• Feelings of peace, well-being, and connection to all that is
• That it provides a safe place for contemplation and spiritual connection to the Divine • Enhanced music appreciation, especially for the lower frequencies • Adding vibrotactile to the experience creates psychoacoustic effects • Improved access to the unconscious mind…both sub and super
• Super-learning – enhanced study/memory by adding another more powerful sense • Higher levels of conscious awareness and mindfulness
Why would such devices be used in a clinical setting?
• Belief or experience that the technology matches the claims being made • Being the first to offer such advanced and cutting edge technology • Provide distraction to uncomfortable procedures
• Encourages sharing with others by word of mouth and new clients • Edge up on the competition – being the only one in town
• Resolves issues when nothing else will work
• Reduces complaints and law suits
• Money making opportunity with usage fees and insurance codes http://www.somatron.com/research_studies.htm. 1
It’s unfortunate that research has been limited only on the use of vibrational sound tables in clinical situations because the story is much bigger than that and involves all the senses. Music and sound were not only meant to be heard, but also seen, smelled and felt in every cell of the body. The vibrotactile sense is just one of many that can be brought into the experience. The more sensory mechanisms involved the greater the process words. Our theory of Sensory Resonance coheres all of the major sensory mechanisms into a simultaneous experience by synchronizing lights, sound, music, tactile vibrations, color, and sometimes aroma. For more information about Sensory Resonance please read the blog on this website by that name.
This, we believe, supplies the user’s Reticular Activating System (RAS) with what it needs to let go of novelty and security and allow consciousness to pass to higher levels of peace, well-being, and a sense that everything is okay. This multi-sensory approach brings us right back to the psychedelic experience with all of the new research that is currently going on regarding the self-production of DMT. There are many people using such technologies to create altered states, replace addictive substances and become more conscious in the process. The acceptance of “technedelics” is beginning to find its place in the treatment of PTSD and other psychological issues as either an adjunct to, or sometimes in replacement of, standard and plant medicine approaches to treatment.
The combination of multi-sensory technologies is the ultimate addition to any sound table, sound chair, sound beds, sound pads or other form of vibrational furniture. VibraSound is a proprietary technology based upon the Theory of Sensory Resonance, which states that the key to health and happiness is the ability to Experience life as much as Analyze it. For information about state of art sensory resonance technologies developed for this purpose, please visit www.innersense inc.com. by Don Estes, Harmonic Law Publications, InnerSense, Inc. © Copyright 1990 by InnerSense, Inc.
