Roto VR Explorer Review: VR Game Changer

Key Takeaways

• Roto VR Explorer alleviates the pain of VR gaming by adapting to the player's movements.

• The seat enhances immersion with 360-degree movement and haptic feedback, and is compatible with over 400 seated VR games.

• The setup is easy to follow and doesn't take long.

When I was little, my parents yelled at me for sitting too close to the TV, warning me that it would hurt my eyes and give me headaches. Neither was true, of course. But as I got older, I began to wonder if living close by really provided anything THEY ARE headache. VR and how it affects me compared to my son has me questioning if it's a generational thing.

Are our old foggy bodies unable to adapt to new technology? Is that what our parents don't like on TV? My son can play VR for hours without any side effects, but when I play, within an hour I start to feel a little funny. Not only can I play VR games where you have to stand, but I can last longer in games where you sit down. Anyway, the flu is finally starting to get to me.

That's why, despite all the ways my son loved his hands — or rather, his bottom — in the motorized seat that is the Roto VR Explorer, I was more interested in its promise to relieve pain. the demonstration. Don't get me wrong, I love the cool bits too, but I'll get to that later. First and foremost for me, this is a quest to see if I can play VR longer.

Get Rid of Motion Sickness

How does a chair help with motion sickness? Science, of course. Oh, and the action. When you turn your head, Roto VR moves in the direction you're facing, with a full 360-degree view. Physical movement in the real world seems to make you less logical in the virtual world.

“Roto VR solves the problem of motion sickness, which is common in VR. When the player moves in the direction he wants, the inner ear no longer believes that the player is poisoned (!), making the experience more fun.”

Is that right? In a word: Yes. As you get used to the new feeling of movement – you can adjust the speed of the rotation if it is a bit too much. You quickly realize that your usual feeling of motion sickness is absent.

It doesn't get rid of it completely, of course. Depending on the game and the participation in it, you will still feel a little shake, but some titles I have played in the past have been completely fine. I find that using the Roto VR I can play longer than before, long enough to burn through my headset battery at least. A victory for science. And Roto. And me. But not for my son, who has to learn to share Meta Quest 3 often.

Although the Roto VR Explorer was designed with Meta, it really works with any VR system.

More immersive VR games

There's no denying that the Roto VR makes gaming more immersive, and it's safe to say that for my son and daughter, we won't be going back to VR gaming any other way – at least while sitting down. I've never struggled with a VR game even while standing up due to vertigo, but of course, the Roto VR only works with games that are compatible with sitting.

I've never tried anything like Roto VR before, but our very own Eric Switzer reviewed the first update in 2021. The design has come a long way since then, and one thing I've noticed (and liked) has been become more coherent. While the latest version looks more like your typical gaming chair, the Roto VR Explorer is sleeker and more precise to offer more freedom of body movement.

Games like Gorilla Tag are prime examples of how this new format works, and where the old format may have come from. In Gorilla Tag, you have to move your arms by your side to move (like a Gorilla, duh) and the arms of the chair would have blocked it and made it impossible. However, when sitting on the Roto VR Explorer, nothing disturbs you.

Besides the obvious benefit of reducing motion sickness, the feeling of movement as you move with haptic feedback makes everything feel more real, which is surely what VR is all about? We want this virtual experience to feel like it's actually happening.

The rumble pack works with headphones, because it uses sound to know whether to make noise. This means that the haptic feedback is not perfect because you can be in a hard game that you don't expect. to feel things, but do, but in general it is very interesting to feel what is happening around you roaring in your body from the chair. And you can adjust the intensity if you feel like it.

I usually don't wear headphones when playing VR, as I prefer to use the built-in audio, but the benefits of the rumble far outweigh the inconvenience of wearing headphones with a headset.

Installation and pricing

Such a large bag can be difficult to set up, especially when you see the size of the box and the parts that have to be put together, but it is not as scary as it seems. The instructions are straightforward and clear, and it will be easy to install and ready to rumble in less than 15 minutes.

Once the seat is in place it is easy to pick up and play, my son can easily do it on his own with no problem. Just connect your ears to the tracker, connect the head tracker to your VR headset, and it's all connected. Wait a moment for the tracker to pair with the seat, then adjust when you're looking straight ahead with a quick press of a button. The work is done.

I thought I'd have an accident with a non-integrated head tracker, but I thought too much. Although there is a pairing button on the seat and head controller, you don't have to. Just give it a second and they'll come together on their own. I made things difficult by trying to do it manually when the button just went into the back, like you accidentally connected to wireless headphones, which I did too. Whoops.

The instructions clearly say not to do this, but I tried because my Sony earphones weren't buzzing. SY sound, just roaring. Sony's headphones are a little more sensitive to the Roto VR Explorer. Both pairs failed to produce sound and sound, but using a few other headphones, such as the Turtle Beach, worked well. If you have problems with Sony headphones, just use something else. And if you don't have wireless headphones, you can use the extra cable in the box to connect wired headphones as well.

One thing I particularly like is that the head tracker (which we called the Poke Ball because of its shape) can be placed at the base of the seat for wireless tracking. It made it easier than putting it in a separate place, because you can charge it via USB-C if you really want, but why you have a small corner on the seat. Given how much we use Roto, the tracker is always left running for a few hours at a time without downtime.

The Roto VR Explorer is a game changer. For me and my motion sickness this is a godsend and I can finally appreciate VR gaming more. Everything else, like improved immersion and haptic feedback, while nice, is a bonus. For many, like my son, that's the main attraction of course.

The chair retails at $799/£799, so it's not cheap, but it delivers on its promise of reduced motion sickness and increased immersion. For hardcore VR gamers I recommend it. For VR dabblers, of course you won't cough up more than the price of a new armchair VR headset, but if you get the chance to try one at your wife's house, do it. Maybe it will turn you into a bigger VR gamer, especially if motion sickness is holding you back.