Roto VR: the world’s first virtual reality chair

If you aren’t careful, the illusion created by a virtual reality headset can be broken pretty quickly. With the headset on you may be seeing a wide expanse of rolling green hills, a proposed skyscraper, or even an alien planet, but if you stub your toe on the corner of a desk or trip and fall face first into a wall, you will be brought back to the real world pretty quickly.

The solution to these problems is simple; sit down. But while sitting down may solve the problem of hurting yourself or breaking something while wearing the headset, it can make the overall experience very awkward. Cables can tangle and movement becomes limited, thus, having the same effect as tripping over a desk or walking into a wall in terms of ruining the illusion VR is meant to create.

But that is where the Roto VR chair is meant to help. For $599 ($499 if you take advantage of a special pre-order offer) the Roto VR provides users with an “immersive, endlessly revolving experience” that includes motorized turns, a tangle-free cable system, and double rumble effect, according to Roto VR CEO, Elliott Myers. The chair boasts “the ultimate seated VR experience” and works with all VR headsets.

Overall, Roto VR incorporates over 20 different technologies, reports virtualreslityreporter.com. Among these technologies are motorized features that sync in-game movement with real life movement to help eliminate motion sickness; double rumble packs meant to mimic engine throttle, gear shifts, and crashes; touch pedals that allow users to walk, run, and jump while remaining comfortably (and safely) seated; and the Roto VR HeadTracker, which clips onto the VR headset and communicates its movements with the base of the chair to rotate it accordingly.

All the technologies incorporated in the chair work together to add to VR’s immersion.

"Ultimately we wanted to create something that adds value to every type of VR experience," Elliott says on the company’s website. “We give people the ability to explore 360 degrees without needing to physically touch the floor with their feet - scratching around a swivel chair base is an immersion killer.  Motorised turns gives us a sense of weightlessness, effectively a blank canvass for our imagination when in VR.”

The Roto VR is set for a July 2016 launch date.