Roto VR Explorer Uses a Motorized Chair as VR Motion Platform
It looks like some weird kind of office chair designed to deliver some next level of advanced in ergonomics. Fortunately, we won’t need to be using anything remote like it in the office soon, since that’s not what it is. Instead, the Roto VR Explorer is a motorized chair designed to move the user to match any movements their characters perform in-game.
That’s right, it’s a motorized chair designed to serve as an alternative to treadmills and other VR motion platforms, allowing you to mimic virtual movements in the real-world without having to stand on your feet the entire time. Because you’re seated, the movements take up a much smaller footprint, all while reducing motion sickness with its ability to match your real-world motion to what’s happening inside the virtual experience.
The Roto VR Explorer is a chair mounted on a round platform with small multi-directional wheels at the base, allowing it to easily move towards any direction. An integrated motor powers the chair’s movements, which, for now, seems to be limited towards left and right rotations (no physical forwards and backwards movements). How does it work? Well, it uses a head-tracking sensor that detects your head turns, then automatically rotates left or right to match it with your body position. Yes, it uses it own sensor with no need for a VR headset, which means you can use it as an office chair that automatically turns to follow your head movements if you want. Sounds fun.
According to the outfit, the motorized movement allows it to rotate at speeds of up to 21 revolutions per minute. That means, it should be able to keep up with slow movements in deliberate VR experiences and sudden movements in fast-paced games, allowing your body to be properly oriented with whatever goes on in the virtual space.
The Roto VR Explorer also comes with a rumble motor under that delivers haptic feedback. From what we can gather, it takes sound cues from the VR experience and transforms it into rumble vibrations, creating more tactile and visceral sensations. The chair itself comes with a back rest and a foot rest, ensuring you can plop down in a position comfortable enough for long, drawn-out VR sessions, complete with an adjustable-height seat that lets you raise or lower it for the most comfortable feel. There’s also an upcoming Pro version that includes adjustable arm rests and a head rest, additions that should make the chair a lot more comfortable.
The chair needs to be plugged in during use, so they integrated a cable management system inside the base platform, ensuring all the excess wires are neatly bundled up out of sight. They also threw in a USB slot if you need to plug in your headset for an extra boost of charge during play. According to the outfit, the chair is designed to be fully compatible with Meta’s Quest headsets.
The Roto VR Explorer is currently available for preorder, priced at $799, with units expected to ship starting October.
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