Immersive visuals, immersive sound, it’s all possible with virtual reality (VR) but immersive motion continues to be one of the biggest hurdles in VR. Unless you have some sort of large, complicated cockpit set up, then immersive motion in VR is nearly impossible, other than the few square feet available to you in a room scale VR experience. But a new Kickstarter project from Intellisense is promising us Yaw VR, a compact motion simulator that will greatly enhance videogames and experiences.
Yaw is a small seat which offers a great deal of motion, including full 360 degree swivel. VR applications that use Yaw VR can make the seat tilt, shake and spin around, so the motions you make in VR, you can roughly feel in real life. We’ve seen VR chairs before, but this is impressive.
Yaw VR demoed at CES 2018, Las Vegas, where users were able to experience the new motion simulator which gave users an impressive VR experience while using a Samsung Gear VR head-mounted display (HMD). You can see the video of impressions from CES 2018 below.
Preordering Yaw VR will give you 4 Yaw VR videogames, compatible with Gear VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The Kickstarter page also notes that Yaw VR should hopefully be compatible with major games on “the most important VR platforms.” PC VR HMDs is a given, but I wonder if that insinuates we might see a PlayStation VR compliant version also.
It measures 29 inches in diameter, and 15 inches high when folded, meaning you have a great deal of flexibility when it comes to storing the device, considering the things it can do. Of course it can swivel 360 degrees, but it can also move 50 degrees on the horizontal axis, making users feel like they are really leaning into turns and feeling G forces – even if, of course, they are not.
The Kickstarter says Yaw VR is made for VR gaming, allowing players to get deeper into virtual worlds. One excellent use case shown is a racing steering wheel attached to the front of the chair, with pedals on the foot rest, making a realistic racing experience.
It’s tempting, but at £629 for the base Early Bird version of the unit, some consumers might get put off. Still, it’s sure to provide the most immersive and compact motion simulator experience, so many enthusiasts may see it as a necessary purchase. For all of the latest news on VR gaming peripherals, keep reading VRFocus.