“Sam, how many times do we have to tell you: Stop putting expensive VR equipment down your pants!” (credit: Sam Machkovech)

As much as we love the latest virtual reality rigs for Windows PCs, playing a game doesn’t always feel realistic. The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive track head motion incredibly well, and the Vive adds solid hand tracking, but the rigs are bad at other things you’ll want to do once you feel transported—particularly any movement beyond the size of your office or living room.

So far, the solutions to long-distance VR movement have left us a bit wanting. Pressing a control stick to virtually move while sitting still in real life usually results in instant nausea, so that’s out. “Teleportation” systems let users point at a spot in the distance and automatically appear there, which works fine but feels a little limited, while giant walk-simulation treadmills are too expensive, hot, and bulky for realistic home use. The latest solution, introduced by a game maker out of Boston, is the most realistic-feeling yet—so long as you’re fine with sticking a plastic controller down your pants.

Video edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)