VRGO Ltd are a technology company based in Bristol, they create design movement input devices for virtual reality and have successful generated two kick-starter campaign that have helped fund their innovation projects. VRGO Ltd came to ITERATE to build upon an already established technology, the VRGO chair; a locomotion device that enables game engagement through the tilt of the users body. The client wanted to create a more compact, portable version of the VRGO chair and therefore produced the concept of the VRGO mini. With the concept already realised, the design team was able to develop this further and create a small quantity of VRGO mini prototypes. The client worked with ITERATE to create the body of the product using specific tooling methods. The team has also redesigned the product to ensure comfort and with the aim to use minimal parts due to project limitations.

Overcoming the challenge of producing a low quantity of manufacturable prototypes, whilst being as cost effective as possible, required a smart approach when selecting the materials and processes used during production. In contrast to designing a product for high volume production and using expensive tooling methods such as injection moulding, the design team decided to take an alternative approach. The base was vacuum-formed, this was the most logical process to use as it reduced the cost of production but has similar properties to other, more expensive tooling methods. The product also has a wood structure, which better lends itself to low volume production and still maintains durability, the fascia was created using HP FusionJet technology, a rapid new prototyping method that ITERATE leveraged to over come design limintations and an upholstery cushion was placed over the top of the product to provide comfort.