Nintendo's past VR research laid the foundation for Labo VR

The Nintendo Switch’s Labo VR offers a different spin on virtual reality, and one that merges Nintendo’s own uniqueness with the existing format.

In an interview with The Verge, Labo director Tsubasa Sakaguchi explains that using Labo to bring VR to the Nintendo Switch was a natural fit, but it was one helped along by existing research done at the company.

Sakaguchi doesn’t dive too much into what direction Nintendo’s earlier VR aspirations might have gone, but does say that the tactile and creative experience offered by Nintendo’s craftable Labo kits proved to be the perfect vehicle for Nintendo’s current-generation foray into VR. 

“We’re always looking for that one overlap of ‘technology meets familiar and accessible,'" he tells The Verge. “When we thought about that little overlap, we thought the concept of Nintendo Labo and VR would be a great match.”

The full writeup explores some other aspects of Nintendo’s unique cardboard-based Labo kits, like how the team went about designing the actual cardboard patterns or why they paid special attention to including small details like the click of a rotating camera lens in their creations.