VR Input is a topic that is all the buzz, today at SFVR an new candidate stepped in the ring, the Bristol based VR Go. VR Go started as Joe Ryan’s, the founder of the company, passion project, he wanted to develop an ergonomic chair for his desk. One thought led to another and he decided to marry the chair with a motion sensor and pair it with a Rift. The result is a chair that acts as a wireless input device for VR.
The chair works wirelessly, allowing you to have your hands free for input with other peripherals like Leap Motion or Sixense STEM. By tilting your chair your movements are translated into the game allowing, for example motion control using your butt.
The company is planning to launch a Kickstarter for their egg shaped chair “in the next couple weeks.” The Kickstarter will work to help fund manufacturing costs for the project. Backers will receive a copy an SDK for the device that will allow them to integrate their game with the hardware. The team has already successfully integrated into “a number of popular games,” including Minecraft which they showed in the video.
Input devices are one of the big questions still remaining in the VR world. While this may not be the most ideal solution, as it likely would be somewhat difficult to get used to, it is interesting to see someone try a solution like this.
