This rotating virtual reality chair at CES 2025 didn’t make me feel like vomiting

This swivel virtual reality gaming chair looks like vomit in the house. The VR environment tends to make some people (like me) feel uncomfortable, so adding simultaneous full-body rotation seems like a recipe for disaster. I was kind of prepared for the worst when I decided to try out the $800 Roto VR Explorer Consumer Electronics Show 2025which uses a head tracker that plugs into the top of Meta Quest devices and other headsets to make the swivel chair spin in whatever direction you look. But against all odds, I ended up having a good time.

In addition to enhancing your seated VR gaming experience, the chair is supposed to actually do just that Helps With problems like motion sickness, because, according to the press materials, “the signals from your inner ear will match what your brain expects from the visual signals.” However, I was a bit nervous, and it didn’t help that when we approached the booth, the first thing we saw was an empty chair rotating on its own in the corner like a bad omen.

The Roto VR Explorer is a made-for-Meta product, meaning it’s optimized for the Quest, but it will work with standalone headsets like those in the HTC Vive family and the “soon” Apple Vision Pro. The chair itself weighs 66 pounds, so it feels very sturdy sitting in it, and it has a rattling package under the seat to bring haptic feedback to the rest of your body instead of just having your hands at the controllers. The head tracker, which looks like a flat Poké Ball, is attached to the top band of the headset.

After the Roto team gave me the brief and had me sit in the chair with the Quest 3, I selected my VR experience – the 2018 interactive documentary about the universe, Domains – And off she went. It was a little strange at first, no doubt, as I turned my head to follow the undulating path of twilight and felt my body spinning as if I were a spice jar on a lazy Susan. But for the most part, there wasn’t that disconcerting feeling of the ground shifting beneath you. (It was definitely a little behind on the crowded show floor, resulting in some jerky, out-of-sync movements.) It only took a minute or so for me to stop focusing on the fact that I was moving and keep going.

For something like DomainsAs you navigate beautiful visuals and interact intriguingly with the virtual environment, Roto VR Explorer is truly awesome. If you’re in a fast-paced environment, like a first-person shooter, this will only increase the tension. I tried quickly turning my head to the side and back and forth a few times to see how it would work with that kind of movement, and it really did He goes When it runs smoothly. The chair moves at a maximum speed of 21 rpm, but you can reduce that with the controllers if that’s too much.

I fully expected to do a lot of deep breathing to complete the demo, but there was actually never a point where I felt nauseous. And when I got out of it and into real life again, I didn’t feel any more disoriented or disoriented than I usually feel after spending time behind a headset (although I’m sure using it for a few hours at a time would change that). I’m mostly relieved that I didn’t throw up in front of a group of strangers.

There are plenty of situations where a person might want or need to play their VR games sitting down, and the Roto VR Explorer Chair provides a very fun way to bring immersion to another level. It’s available for purchase now, with upgrade packs – including Pro Flying and Pro Racing – expected to follow in August 2025.