Movement is the biggest obstacle yet to be solved for true virtual reality experiences. While there are locomotion setups on the market that attempt to address the issue, not many people have the money nor the space to install and maintain them as they’re usually larger.
Inventor Joe Ryan’s VRGO is a VR controller in the form of a self-righting, egg-shaped seat. Made of aircraft composite for strength and weighing at only four kilograms, the wireless motion controller seat connects with the touch of a button using Bluetooth to PCs, Macs and headsets like Oculus Rift to facilitate more involved VR experiences.
Simply tilting in any direction replicates the same direction in game, with comfy ergonomics complementing longer play sessions using its five-hour rechargeable battery and a storage compartment stores headsets when done. Eager gamers can plunk down $309 for a VRGO to arrive at their doorstep by May 2016 should its $31,000 campaign goal be met by December 4th, 2015.
VRGO is a decidedly clever solution in the same vein as Stompz and Ground Control promoting a more intuitive way of interacting with the virtual reality experiences fast becoming prevalent, without devoting an entire room to do so. Ultimately, all of these solutions are stopgaps until true movement is able to replicated, but engaging stopgaps that make the wait a bit more bearable.