Summary
When I was younger, my parents used to shout at me for sitting too close to the TV, warning me it would make my eyes go square and I’d get a headache. Neither were true, of course. Yet as I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to question whether sitting close really did givethema headache. VR and how it affects me compared to my son has me questioning whether it’s a generational thing.
Are our old fogey bodies just less capable of adapting to new technology? Is that why our parents didn’t like TV? My son can play VR for hours without any side effects, whereas when I play, within an hour I start to feel a little funny. I can only play in short bursts for VR games where you have to stand, but I can last a bit longer for games where you sit down. Either way, eventually the motion sickness starts to get to me.
That’s why, despite all the ways in which my son was eager to get his hands—or more accurately, his butt—on the motorised chair that is theRoto VR Explorer, I was more interested in its promise to alleviate motion sickness. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the cool bits too, but I’ll get to those later. First and foremost for me, this was a quest to see if I could play VR for longer.
Down With The Motion Sickness
How does a chair help with motion sickness? Science, obviously. Oh, and the movement. When you turn your head, the Roto VR moves in the direction you’re facing, with full 360 degree viewing. Physically moving in the real world is apparently what makes you feel less nauseous in the virtual world.
“The Roto VR also dramatically resolves the issue of motion sickness, commonly experienced in VR. As the gamer actually moves in the direction they are looking, the inner ear no longer believes the player has been poisoned(!), making the experience so much more pleasant.”
Does it work? In a word: Yes. Once you get used to the new sensation of moving—you can adjust the spin speed if it feels a bit too much. You quickly realise your usual sensation of motion sickness is thankfully absent.
It doesn’t magic it away completely, of course. Depending on the game and how involved it is, you’ll still feel a bit of the wobbles, but some titles I used to struggle with were now completely fine. I’ve found that by using the Roto VR I can play for much longer than before, long enough to burn through my headset’s battery at least. A win for science. And Roto. And me. But not for my son, who now has to learn to share our Meta Quest 3 more often.
Though the Roto VR Explorer was made in partnership with Meta, it actually works on any VR system.
More Immersive VR Gaming
It’s undeniable that the Roto VR makes gaming more immersive, and it’s also safe to say that for both my son and I, we won’t go back to VR gaming any other way—at least when seated. I’ve never really been one to VR game while standing anyway because of motion sickness, but naturally, the Roto VR only works for games that are compatible with sitting down.
I’d never tried anything like the Roto VR before, butour very own Eric Switzer reviewed the first iteration back in 2021. The design has come a long way since then, and one thing I noticed (and appreciated) is that it’s become a lot more streamlined. While the last version looked more like your typical gaming chair, the Roto VR Explorer is sleeker and more compact to allow for greater freedom of body movement.
Games like Gorilla Tag are a prime example of how well this new design works, and where the old design would have tripped up. In Gorilla Tag, you have to move your arms down by your side to move around (like a Gorilla, duh) and chair arms would have impeded this and made it impossible. However, when sitting on the Roto VR Explorer, there’s nothing getting in your way.
Aside from the obvious benefit of reducing motion sickness, the sensation of moving as you move in game combined with the haptic feedback makes everything feel more real, which is surely what we’re aiming for with VR right? We want this virtual experience to feel as if it’s really happening.
The rumble pack works in conjunction with headphones, as it uses the audio to know whether to rumble. This does mean the haptic feedback isn’t perfect as you might be in a loud game where you don’t expect tofeelsomething, but do, but overall it’s incredibly interesting to have the sensation of what is happening around you rumble into your body from the chair. And you can adjust the intensity if you are feeling it a little too much.
I don’t normally wear headphones when VR gaming, as I prefer to use the in-built audio, but the perk of having the rumble far outweighs the inconvenience of wearing headphones over my headset.
Setup And Cost
A big bit of kit like this can be daunting to set up, especially when you see the size of the box and the pieces you have to fit together, but it’s less scary than it seems. Instructions are straightforward and clear, and you’ll easily have it set up and ready to rumble in less than 15 minutes.
Once the chair has been set up, it’s easy to pick up and play, easy enough that my son does it by himself with no trouble. You just connect your headphones to the tracker with the cable, attach the head tracker to your VR headset, and switch it all on. Wait a second for the tracker to pair to the chair, then sync it when you’re looking straight ahead with a quick button press. Job done.
I thought I’d hit a snag with the head tracker not pairing, but I was overthinking it. While there are pairing buttons on both chair and head tracker, you don’t actually need to do this. Just give it a second and they’ll pair together automatically. I was overcomplicating things by trying to manually do it when the buttons are only really included as a back up, such as if you accidentally pair the head tracker to some wireless headphones instead, which I also did. Whoops.
The instructions clearly say not to do this, but I was experimenting as my Sony headphones weren’t giving me rumbleandsound, just rumble. Sony headphones are a bit temperamental with the Roto VR Explorer. Two pairs failed to deliver both sound and rumble, but using a few other headphones, such as a Turtle Beach, worked absolutely fine. If you’re having trouble with Sony headphones, just use something else. And if you don’t have wireless headphones, you can simply use the additional cable in the box to connect wired headphones, too.
One thing I particularly appreciated is that the head tracker (which we dubbed the Poke Ball because of its appearance) can be placed in the base of the chair to wirelessly charge. It made it so much easier than plugging it in somewhere separately, because you can charge it via USB-C if you really want, but why would you when it has its own little nook in the chair. Given how much we’ve been using Roto, the tracker is essentially always left on charge during its few hours of downtime.
The Roto VR Explorer is a game changer. For me and my motion sickness, it’s a godsend and I can finally appreciate VR gaming a little more. Everything else, like the improved immersion and haptic feedback, as cool as it is, is a bonus. For many, like my son, that’s the main appeal of course.
The chair retails at $799/£799, so it’s not cheap, but it does deliver on the promises it makes of reduced motion sickness and increased immersion. For hardcore VR gamers, I would highly recommend it. For VR dabblers, you’re obviously not going to cough up more than the VR headset cost on a new chair, but if you ever get a chance to try one at a mate’s house, do so. Maybe it’ll convert you into a bigger VR gamer, especially if it’s motion sickness holding you back.
