Enjoying massage of the future at the world's top IT fair

With all the frantic deal-making and head-spinning gadgets at the world's top IT fair, it is perhaps no surprise that a chair promising the benefit of two hours sleep in 20 minutes drew big queues.

The "brainLight" system, which its makers claim is unique, uses sound, light and shiatsu massage to send the user into a trance-like state in mere minutes.

"It's just like getting two or three hours of deep sleep. You feel instantly better," explained Daniela Brieske from the firm.

The chair senses your body shape and makes a virtual map of the key relaxation zones before applying a firm massage, she explained.

Using dark glasses and headphones, other senses -- and everyday stresses and strains -- are shut out.

Then relaxing music and soft voices are pumped into the ears and flashing white light of varying intensity comes through the glasses.

The system works using so-called "hemi sync" technology, using sound and vision to synchronise the two hemisphere of the brain, producing deep relaxation.

BrainLight says its chairs can also be used for quickly learning languages, as the brain is more receptive to storing new information when the brain is "in sync."

Certainly brainLight had a steady stream of people lining up to try their chairs at the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair in the northern German city of Hanover.

However, the cost of a chair might cause some to lose sleep, with the most expensive retailing at 7,500 euros ($10,000).

(c) 2012 AFP