You don't necessarily have to install the tactile directly to the seat.
From my own testing I would submit that its possible to have tactile installed to a metal surface, this perhaps underneath the seat and it have extended arm-sections that then make contact to the seat in specific areas.
A unit attached directly to the seat will work but such can deliver an impact hotspot to the region, it is installed. One setback with this is that when you increase the gain to have the effect reach the further regions of the seat then the area hotspot the unit is installed can be a become a bit uncomfortable or annoying feeling.
Applying Body Regions:
- Left Shoulder
- Right Shoulder
- Lower Spine
- Seat Side
- Seat Underside
- Knee Underside
You won't find in many installations people doing this, although it is something I have been testing with for a while. Most people typically will just have their tactile entering the seat. This often via seat runners/seat supports or as you have queried direct installation to the seat for the tactile unit's energy to then transfer freely over the seat used.
Some benefits with doing the above is that we can have specific effects go to specific body regions. We can cleverly utilise the different channels and in conjunction with usage of a frequency based crossover to help determine how some effects are distributed over a seat.
Contact points can be achieved, not being able to drill the back of the seat is the exact issue I also have. However, I found it possible in testing to use sticky-back suction cup and magnet solutions that enabled me to use these to form connection points for the seat and to the extended arms delivering the tactile via a controlled path.
Doing this is something, I have found from my own exploration/testing can increase the detection of multiple effects. While not all effects may always be active at the same time or to the same amount of force when we give the brain more sensory input from multiple body regions, then we can detect these more clearly than say having the more traditional approach with multiple effects output via just single units or indeed at singular installation/contact points.
Its something to perhaps consider, you need to determine what effects you want to operate with and what tactile is to be used. You can easily incorporate 3 channels, often placing the engine in the center/spine and seat underside with directional based effects placed to operate on the seat sides. With extended arm-sections to the shoulders and an area very few people try to utilise with tactile is placing contact under the knees. This, with shoulders can really help to enhance stereo based effects over what a typical tactile installation may offer.
I will share my own approach with this over the next month or so with my ongoing build.
8020 however could easily be used with some creativity to apply this approach of better-using specific body regions.
