Category: VRGO

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VRGO Mini Achieves Funding Goal With 20 Days to Spare

British hardware manufacturer VRGO only launched its Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for VRGO Mini, a controller for your bum last week and has now hit its funding goal of £20,000 GBP.

VRGO

As the name suggests the VRGO Mini is a smaller version of the company’s original product, the VRGO Chair, which has been available for several years. The VRGO Mini has been designed for use on a variety of seats, chairs, sofas, pretty much wherever you want to sit down to play VR content.

Having hit the £20,000 target the campaign doesn’t have any stretch at present so its all about bolstering that money pot. For those still interested in backing the campaign but who may have held off, there are still Super Early Bird funding tiers available. The cheapest way to get your hands on a VRGO Mini is the £119 offer which maxes out at 100 backers (85 have been sold). Or for those after a little haptic butt feedback the £149 tier still has a few left. The full Kickstarter price for the non-haptic version is £199, so at full retail, VRGO Chair will easily be north of £200.

So what’s the point of a VR locomotion controller you can sit on? The comfort of course. While the VRGO Mini is padded what VRFocus is talking about is virtual comfort when moving through virtual worlds. Just like the VRGO Chair, VRGO Mini is all about reducing or eliminating nausea completely, offering the chance to walk and run simply by shifting your body weight. To see what VRFocus thought about the device before you put money down check out the hands-on preview.

 

VRGO Mini image2

Designed to work with most VR headsets via Bluetooth including Oculus Rift/Rift S, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Pimax, Windows Mixed Reality, Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR, the VRGO Mini will offer eight hours of use from a one-hour fast charge.

Also good to know is the fact that most of the hard work has already been completed in regards to the tilting mechanism and Bluetooth operation. This is thanks to the tech being lifted straight from VRGO Chair and put in a small form factor. VRFocus will continue its coverage of VRGO Mini as it heads towards the March 2020 shipping date.

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Small Form Factor Locomotion Device ‘VRGO Mini’ Surpasses Kickstarter Goal

Bristol, UK-based designer Joe Ryan launched his first Kickstarter back in 2015, the VRGO chair locomotion device, which saw a modest £22,100 (~$27,000) in crowdfunds. Now, a smaller form factor version of the device is being launched through a new Kickstarter campaign, the VRGO Mini.

Update (September 5th, 2019): VRGO Mini is now officially funded, surpassing its £20,000 goal with a little over 20 days to spare. There are still plenty of open slots for the Super Early Bird backer tier, which is priced at £119 (~$145).

The original article announcing VRGO Mini follows below:

Original Article (August 28th, 2019): The Kickstarter is searching for £20,000 (~$24,400) in funds. As an ‘all or nothing’ campaign, the project will need to reach the full amount before the campaign’s end on September 26th, 2019. At the time of this writing, the campaign is a little less than half-way there at nearly £7,000.

Here’s how it works: the VRGO Mini is a device that sits on top of your chair, which lets you locomote through VR by using a ’tilt-to-move’ scheme. It uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which is necessarily comprised of an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnometer, which tells the game which direction the user is turning or tilting.

Essentially, it’s like a 3dRudder that you sit on, requiring you to lean in the desired direction and working on the same principle: if you involve enough of your body in a physical movement that directly translates to in-game locomotion, you’re less likely to experience the disconnect that causes the dreaded flop sweats of motion-related sickness.

Unlike 3dRudder though, VRGO Mini can come with integrated haptics, which is an optional funding tier starting at £149 (~$180). The absolute cheapest price (without haptics) is set at £119 (~$145), a bit more expensive than the standard PCVR-compatible 3dRudder is today, which comes in at $99.

Image courtesy Joe Ryan

VRGO Mini is said to support a wide variety of devices including all SteamVR-compatible headsets, mobile VR headsets via gamepad emulation, PSVR (using Cronusmax dongle), as well as non-VR games through keyboard emulation.

The Kickstarter is promising “over 100 VR games and experiences” supported at launch, and is said to arrive as early as March 2020.

The device itself is promised to support up to 150 kg (~330 lbs), and deliver up to eight hours of continuous gameplay provided by its internal battery, which can be quick charged in an hour’s time.

Check out the Kickstarter page here for more information.

The post Small Form Factor Locomotion Device ‘VRGO Mini’ Surpasses Kickstarter Goal appeared first on Road to VR.

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Get a Move on as VRGO Mini Launches Kickstarter Campaign

One of the biggest obstacles facing virtual reality (VR) adoption isn’t price/variety of headsets or content availability it’s comfort. Not on the hardware side as companies like VR Cover have lots of options available, rather the trickier problem of in-game nausea. Movement in VR titles has always proved to be a bone of contention, mainly due to the fact that what affects one person won’t necessarily affect another. There have been numerous ways to address the issue, using both software and hardware solutions. The latest comes from VRGO with a new chair mounted device called VRGO Mini, which has begun a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign today.

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VRGO is a British VR hardware company based in Bristol, previously known for the VRGO Chair, a Bluetooth compatible device which allowed users to tilt and shift their body to move their virtual avatar. The VRGO Mini works on the exact same principle – it features the same chipset – just shrunk down to a more portable and lightweight size that can be used on a chair or sofa.

The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise £20,000 GBP in 30 days which doesn’t sound a lot when developing hardware. However, as mentioned most of hardwork has already been solved by transplanting the circuit board and sensors from the VRGO Chair. VRFocus got to see this in action and test it using PlayStation VR and Oculus Quest, check out the hands-on preview for more info.

There are three main tiers depending on how quick you are and whether you want haptic feedback in your VRGO Mini. The cheapest price is £119 for the Super Early Bird tier or £149 for the Super Early Bird haptic model. These two are very limited in quantity, with the price then jumping for the Special Kickstarter Price tier and then the Normal Kickstarter Price.

VRGO Mini image1

The VRGO Mini has been designed to work with most VR headsets via Bluetooth including Oculus Rift/Rift S, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Pimax, Windows Mixed Reality, Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR for example. With a built-in rechargeable battery it’s completely wireless, offering eight hours of gameplay for a one-hour fast charge.

Should the Kickstarter prove successful (many recently have) then deliveries are expected to commence during March 2020. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.

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Hands-on With VRGO Mini – Rear-ly Easy Movement

British hardware manufacturer VRGO first popped up on the virtual reality (VR) scene back in 2015 when the company launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for a novel locomotion device called the VRGO Chair. Back then VR developers were still wrestling with the best way to move in VR without making most people violently ill. VRGO had the simple idea of a Bluetooth connected chair with a rounded bottom, so players could shift their weight and move their virtual selves accordingly. Now VRGO has improved upon that design with the VRGO Mini.

VRGO

The same principles still apply in that players physically move themselves to walk or run in a particular direction, this time, however, the design is far more compact and storage-friendly. While the original VRGO Chair worked well to reduce nausea – providing a novel seat when not used for VR – it wasn’t padded and wasn’t particularly cheap starting at £299.99 GBP.

VRGO has seen success within the enterprise space but not so much when it comes to the consumer market. Soon to enter this field is the VRGO Mini a controller which is entirely operated by your bum (no seriously), can easily be picked up and stored, and won’t cost the same price of the headset.

VRFocus went down to the Bristol VR Lab where VRGO is based to test the VRGO Mini and it’s safe to say that even in prototype form the device impressed. As you can see from the images VRGO Mini is designed to sit on a chair – or even a sofa – whether it’s a padded office chair or a harder dining chair. It uses the same chipset found in the VRGO Chair to register the changes in direction, so a lot of the hard work has already been solved.

What you’ll notice about the design is the padded top, making for a comfortable gameplay experience as it’s like you’re already sat on a padded chair. Underneath there’s what looks like half a ball to help elevate the device and provide the much-needed rocking function so you can twist and lean. VRGO has added a new feature which wasn’t present on the original chair, haptics. VRFocus was told an early version had four transducers which were deemed a little excessive, so there were two in the current model. Even these two proved to be quite aggressive, so the final version may include only one.

VRGO Mini image2

In terms of control, the VRGO Mini was very easy to use and acclimatise to. It’s like fidgeting on a seat, shifting weight slightly to start walking and then even more to run. The first test was on PlayStation VR playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. Out in the fields, there was no problem running around, fighting creatures, strafing and all the other movements you’d naturally expect. Heading inside a dungeon did prove to be a little trickier when it came to tight hallways and 90-degree corners. VRGO Mini provided a slight angle shift by around 45° when twisted left or right but not a full 90° which instinctually made me want to turn my entire body instead. The only problem with this is PlayStation VR’s tracking and the cable, the latter getting in the way and the fact that most PlayStation VR players will be on a sofa.

The second demo was on Oculus Quest playing Turtle Rock Studios’ Journey of the Gods and this is where VRGO Mini really shined. The videogame is good in its own right and proved to be just as enjoyable on VRGO Mini. Coupled with a wireless headset and a full 360° tracking solution, navigating Journey of the Gods was seamless and most importantly stress-free. Some movement solutions for VR such as Cybershoes provide a natural locomotion system but after a while, players will eventually tire, with VRGO Mini that shouldn’t be an issue. Another point worth noting, depending on physical disability VRGO Mini could also prove to offer greater inclusivity.

What’s great about VRGO Mini is its simplicity. The theory is the same as 3dRudder just for your bum, plus it’s wireless, so just recharge it at the same time as your Oculus Quest. There have been several Kickstarter hardware achievements this year and VRGO Mini will soon begin its campaign for crowd-funding success. If the price is right, VRGO Mini will be ideal for those after a comfortable locomotion system.

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Black Friday Edition of the VRGO Seat Controller now Available

Smooth locomotion movement in virtual reality (VR) experiences can be uncomfortable for some users so there are various companies like 3dRudder and VRGO who’ve created peripherals to combat the issue. VRGO has created a weeble inspired VR chair, and for Black Friday released a special edition model with a launch discount.

The VRGO chair allows players to move within VR by tilting their body. The device has been created as a space-saving peripheral that’s completely wireless, designed so that small movements in terms of twisting your body to a new direction can represent greater movements within the given VR experience.

VRGO Black Friday EditionBecause VRGO connects via Bluetooth it can connect to most head-mounted displays (HMDs), whether they’re PC-based or mobile. Being hands free players can use their hands for existing hand controllers and other experimental VR accessories such as weapons or tools for training.

“Design is key to everything we do. We’ve dedicated ourselves to crafting the perfect shape for active seated locomotion and electronics that seamlessly connect to all the current HMDs,” said Joe Ryan, CEO and founder of VRGO Ltd in a statement.

Weighing in at 4kg, the design is more compact than an office chair yet light enough to be moved around a home as needed.

“Got to try the VRGO chair – no nausea in 1st person, so good!,” said Sam Watts, game developer for Tammaka Games, makers of Radial G.

The Limited Edition Black Friday VRGO is available through the company website with a 15 percent discount, dropping the price from £299 GBP to £254.99 until the 27th November. The special edition isn’t the only model available, with a carbon fibre version on sale for £425.00. Three other designs are on offer for £254.99 should customers prefer a different colour.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of VRGO, reporting back with any further updates.