Why Does Virtual Reality Make Me Sick?

You’re enjoying a nice simulated drive using your VR headset, when you’re suddenly jolted with nausea. What is causing this gross feeling? Check out this episode to learn how sensory input and VR simulation can throw your body off.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda
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[Wizarth]

I read a paper from people working in simulators & VR for the USAF. They said an additional reason to those discussed here is that while screens use parallax to give a perception of distance, the inability to actually use your eyes to focus on near and far objects also contributes to VR sickness, particularly after extended use.

[xevious]

Motion sickness is due to our eyes viewing extreme motion and our brains sending signals the bodys muscles and organs to produce acids that it would need in such real life situations. Since the body isnt actually moving it doesn't really need the sudden shunt of excess acids, as a result, we get sick from the overload. This actually happens in the real world in extreme movement situations like on rides at the amusement park and or rollercoasters when the world around us is spinning or moving fast, or on a boat when the horizon is bobbing up and down. The key is that our brain is interpreting what our eyes see and preps our body chemically. Much of the way our body prevents sickness is via our eyes blinking. In the real world when we look around and turning our heads, we instinctively blink our eyes as not to see the extreme motion unbroken. Our eyes also spot targets, locks and focus on objects, and doesn't actually scroll around, as is done in a videogame. when we watch a monitor we are focused on a plane, and the eye is fixed on content, In VR due to head motion the view rotates and we see more unbroken motion and our eye blink if at all during head turns because our eyes is still fixed on the plane of the screen. all that motion interpreted by the brain get turned into a buildup of acids and in no time motion sickness. the way to fwart of motion sickness is to blink often to reduce seeing extreme movements
This very same problem was tackled years ago by early VR developers. They faced the same problems of latency and motion sickness. One solution to the problem was as mentioned blinkin, but they did fine that the VR users still didnt blink as they naturally would because the eyes is focus on a screen despite the content being displayed. just as a person wouldnt blink shaking their head left and rite watching a television, the solution was simple. The creating blinking within the game itself. as the user turned their heads the screen would blink in the same timeframe as a real eye. This reduced the amount of visual extreme motion that the brain didnt have to process. And as such greatly reduced motion sickness.

[Master_Therion]

Having a nose in your field of view helps prevent motion sickness? I guess this explains why Lord Voldemort is so cranky all the time.

[aditiadvilkar]

Your videos really prove helpful. Keep up.

[tishafay]

I literally have strong nausea, headache, heart palpitations and stomach aches within 20 minutes of use. I've been feeling this way since using it 6 hours ago. I thought it was a coincidence but I used it last night and experienced the same thing. It's definitely the headset.

[usman]

amazing! It was really disappointing to learn that I felt dizzy and nauseous when using VR and I limit how much I use it now but I'm glad that this is something that will eventually have a solution. thank you for such an informative video

[kapowshi]

Motion sickness never even crossed my mind, till I got my first VR headset and after 30 mins of gameplay I wanted to puke for 4 hours. I don’t get motion sickness from cars or boats but VR and joysticks? It’s a different feeling.

[carlossolrac]

I appreciate quality videos, SciShow. Thanks.

[TheShockPuppet]

I like all scishow hosts but somehow seeing michael aranda makes me feel really happy inside. He seems so nice and his voice is so soothing

[KirstenlyArt]

Firstly, excellent video! I get motion sickness from regular non-VR games so I have been avoiding VR. Its nice to know they are working on a solution! Second, Michael, that's a really nice jacket! It looks good on you!

[padoco]

I work in VR. Latency and refresh are two relatively big problems with some pretty easy solutions. The easiest way to describe what seems to be the trend is minimal performance thresholds. In short, if your computer can't manage the requisite 90 fps in both screens, the headset simply doesn't work.

Performance is a bit more variable. To my knowledge, HTC (makers of the Vive) is the only headset manufacturer with really specific performance standards designed to prevent motion sickness. Other manufacturers are a tad more loose with what they will allow to be published for their devices. They just have a comfort rating in the store. But Vive takes a hard line on a few points, and if the points aren't met, they don't let the software get distributed for their device.

Their biggest point is camera control. While some distributors allow for things like cages (effectively representing the solid floor of the real world), Vive software requires the user always be in control of the camera. After trying one of the games with the cage thing and a moderate comfort rating, I'm a little more partial to staying in control of the camera.

[KingYoite]

We're getting closer and closer to SAO level gaming. I nervously embrace this.

[entropyzero]

Another trick that's used (for example in Doom VR) is to not move freely at all but to "teleport": You chose your destination and get swept there super fast (fast movement instead of instantaneous so you don't get disoriented).

[Bleeper]

I bought a VR headset a while ago but never used it because I nearly puked the first time I played with it. It collected dust up until Half-Life Alyx came out and I gave it another shot. This game is so ridiculously fun that I kept playing with nausea. I even had to grab the trashcan a couple times because I was gagging and almost threw up but this game is fun enough to push through.

[Starchface]

I've never tried VR, but it makes me sick anyway.

[topilot]

Narrowing field of view with DJI adjustment wheel definitely can work. Reason is that your brain interprets you as being in a movie theater rather than in the virtual reality world. Especially effective if in fast moving or jerky video feeds with fast panning motion.

[Ngamotu]

I've never tried VR, so wouldn't know if it makes me sick.

[klaudialustig]

All the other videos have clickbait titles and then disappoint when you watch them.
SciShow videos though are actually MORE interesting than the thumbnail!
Keep making awesome videos, I love them!

[SomeDudeOnline]

About a year ago I got my nostalgia on by playing Twisted Metal 3 on my old PS2. I played through the entire game and in the last couple levels I felt a bit sick (VR Sick, I suppose) but I fought through it and beat the game. When I was finished, I promptly ran to the restroom and vomited. I hope the anti-vr sickness methods are pretty damn effective by the time I go to use a VRbecause I'm apparently extremely sensitive to this kind of motion sickness.

[elikattatv]

This is interesting! I've never experienced it, but this was very informative! I love this channel, always great videos!