Earlier this month 3dRudder announced a new version of its foot controller, designed to specifically work with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR. The company showcased the new design during CES 2019 last week and VRFocus caught up with 3dRudder’s CEO Stanislas Chesnais to learn more about the product and the company’s plans.
3DRudder’s foot controller concept has already been out for a number of years, first appearing during CES 2016 prior to its launch that same year for PC-based virtual reality (VR) headsets. The purpose of its design is to solve several problems in VR related to movement.
Firstly there’s nausea. Not all VR users can deal with traditional smooth locomotion, usually having to revert to teleportation options and snap rotation in videogames that require a lot of wandering around. 3dRudder can help to solve this, as you are telling your feet to move in a certain direction even without walking. Secondly, because 3dRudder has to be used seated it allows movement in much more confined areas – great for those that don’t have room-scale space. This is especially pertinent when it comes to PlayStation VR, as the whole system – and most of the videogames – are designed around a seated experience.
Then you have the titles which only support PlayStation Move controllers. These tend to use a teleportation system if the experience features movement due to the lack of trackpad or stick on the motion controllers. 3dRudder allows for full locomotion whilst still being able to use PlayStation Move as normal.
The PlayStation VR version features most of the same features as previous 3dRudder models, with a cabled plug’n’play input via USB so there’s no need to worry about batteries or syncing the controller to the console. There is one noticeable difference with the new design, and that’s the addition of the two extra fins on top. 3dRudder added these to aid players when they wanted to twist the device, ensuring their feet always stayed on the correct part of the controller.
Check out the interview below for further details. 3dRudder for PlayStation VR will first be available exclusively through the company’s online store, retailing for $119 USD/€119 EUR. You can pre-order the controller now with shipments taking place in April. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.