Building a Better Chair

The military applications may not be obvious, but are compelling nonetheless:

Vibration & Sound Solutions Limited (VSSL) suggested placing mag-lev sensors at the source of the electromagnetic fields, such as motors.
The idea was to actually levitate the machinery with an array of electromagnets while using a small amount of power. "The technology really worked," says Admiral Cohen. "But, like other technologies, it was ahead of its time." He described the innovation as a "disruptive technology" that goes "against the more tried and true ways of doing things." And "for whatever reason, the decision was taken to not pursue at that time that very promising technology." (Cohen was quick to point out the decision was not his but, as he called it, "Big Navy's.")

There would, however, be other opportunities. According to a recent study by the Naval Health Research Center, "Boat operators and crew of U.S. Navy Special Warfare combatant craft are routinely exposed to severe boat-wave impacts as part of their mission training and execution." Since 9/11, there has been a growing need for littoral operations--taking place on shores and coastlines and requiring fast-moving transports and the deployment of SEAL teams. But en route to missions, riding on high-speed vessels such as the Mark V, said Cohen, "You find that we're bracing ourselves, either standing and holding on to a bar or backbrace . . . or we're [resting] on passive shock-mitigating seats. It occurred to me that we were doing damage."

Indeed, as a Mark V hits the waves at 45 knots, those on board can experience up to 8 G's of pressure. "And that's vertical on their spine," notes the admiral. "You can imagine the tap-tap-tap. . . ." The successor to the Mark V is the Sea Fighter (formerly the X-Craft), a 262-foot, 1,000-ton, aluminum catamaran that travels up to 50 knots on the high seas. This led Cohen to "look at decoupling the human from the impact of the craft using this magnetic levitation, and that was sort of the genesis of the seats that you see today."

Of course, with a similar approach to artillery recoil, this could also make for some gigantic BFGs.