This head-tracking spinning chair could make VR less nauseating

The Roto VR Explorer chair is designed to make VR experiences feel more immersive (and less nauseating) by pairing real-world movements with what’s seen in a headset. By simply spinning a sitting user in place, it’s able to do that in a much smaller footprint than other solutions like the Virtuix Omni treadmill or Disney’s Holo Tile treadmill.

It looks like an office chair, but the Roto VR Explorer is distinguished by an oversize wheeled base with an integrated electric motor that can spin a seated user at speeds of up to 21 revolutions per minute. The chair will automatically rotate left and right to match the head turns of a user wearing a Meta Quest headset, but instead of relying on movement data captured by the Quest, the Roto VR Explorer uses its own motion-sensing head tracker attached to a head strap.

The Roto VR Explorer comes with the Made for Meta stamp of approval, meaning it’s “authorized by Meta to meet our high-quality standards,” but since the head tracking is all handled by a proprietary sensor, the chair should also work with other VR headsets, as long as you’ve got a head strap to attach it to.

The speed of the chair matches the speed and intensity of a user’s head movements. A small head turn will result in barely noticeable turns or, in some cases, no movement at all, but a fast head turn will have the chair quickly accelerating to its maximum speed.

The chair claims to reduce motion sickness — a long-standing issue for many users of devices like the Meta Quest — because it adds real-world movements that coincide with what’s seen in a VR experience so the brain is less disoriented. Could you recreate a similar experience by just rotating a regular office chair with your legs? Potentially, but the movements wouldn’t be as closely matched as what’s claimed here.

The Roto VR Explorer won’t eliminate motion sickness entirely. Users may still experience it when moving forward or backward or quickly teleporting to other areas in a VR world using a controller. Being able to physically walk around while experiencing VR is still a better approach, but the chair is designed as a compromise for smaller spaces, where full-body movements may be restricted.

Other useful features include a rumble pack mounted under the seat, providing force feedback, a modular design for attaching other unannounced accessories, and a USB port at the base of the chair that rotates so users can keep a VR headset charged without cables getting wrapped up. Locking wheels also ensure the Roto VR Explorer doesn’t slide around during intense VR experiences.

It’s available for preorder now for $799 (or £799 in the UK), and according to TechCrunch, it’s expected to ship as early as October. If VR fans are experiencing a sense of deja vu, it’s because the company introduced a more complex version back in 2020, which sold for over $2,000.