Staying Safe in VR Tips to Avoid Motion Sickness and Eye Strain

How to stop VR sickness: the best ways to reduce VR motion sickness

With the popularity of VR gaming rising, so too has the number of players cursed with VR sickness. For those who suffer from it, VR motion sickness can completely ruin your VR experience, stopping you completely from playing fantastic titles like Half-Life: Alyx, or forcing you to cut your playtime short until the queasiness subsides.

Motion sickness is common in ordinary gaming, but the causes of VR sickness are slightly different. The underlying cause, however, is the same: conflicting senses your eyes do not follow what your body is feeling.

More technically, as described by Eiji Sakata, Kyoko Ohtsu, and Hideaki Sakuta in the International Tinnitus Journal, motion sickness is caused by both inner-ear stimulation by body movement, especially a Coriolis-type stimulus, and optokinetic stimulation due to the shift of the surrounding visual fields.

Fortunately, according to computer scientists, there are ways to reduce VR motion sickness so you can enjoy the best VR games to their fullest. In this article, well have a look at how to stop VR sickness, according to the experts.

Additional sensory input

One of the ways to overcome VR sickness, identified by five different medical studies highlighted in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, is to have multisensory information around while playing. In these studies, users were found to be more likely to experience VR sickness when they were playing in silence.

By adding multisensory information to the VR, the user can successfully handle the mismatch between the sensory information since additional inputs are available in the multimodal VR, the journal reads. Previous studies showed that when participants experienced a VR with pleasant music or aroma, they reported less VR sickness compared to when there was no additional sensory input.

What forms could the multisensory information take? Well, it could mean having a window open that brings in white noise from the bustle of the world outside. Or spraying some perfume, or a smell that might correspond with the VR youre experiencing. Although we wouldnt suggest one that simulates the Whiterun stables in Skyrim VR.

Dynamic depth of field

Dynamic depth of field is a visual effect used in 3D games that brings a specific area or object into focus while blurring the background. It mimics the way the human eye works: we see (with apologies to the short-sighted) what were looking at sharply, and very little else.

Without this effect, 3D scenes in a head-mounted display (HMD) present all objects equally in focus. Applying dynamic depth of field effect in VR games has proven to be very effective in reducing motion sickness.

A study carried out by Carnegie and Rhee in 2015 applied real-world visual perception to a VR scene by blurring out everything that wasnt in focus. By doing this they found that users experienced less VR sickness.

So, reducing the dynamic depth of field in your VR game will help to reduce the chance of sickness occurring. Like the method of reducing the FOV [field of view], dynamic depth of field can serve to decrease the amount of visual input which causes sensory conflicts, the study states. Unfortunately, not all VR games offer this setting, but are likely to eventually. It also requires some improvement in certain games, and so still has some way to go.

VR peripherals and physical movement

Several studies have found that being able to move your body while using VR can reduce VR sickness. You dont have to move your whole body, just at least the upper part of it. Think dodging high-security laser beams in an art heist ahem, movie .

This is likely due to the way our brains process and perceives things. The paper Virtual Reality Sickness: A Review of Causes and Measurements, says: If a person can move his/her body voluntarily, the internal model of the brain can be actively updated, which helps to cope with conflicting sensory information.

There are many peripherals are for sale which might counter the effects of VR sickness. The monstrously expensive Cybershoes strap to your feet and give you full freedom to explore 360 degrees of your virtual world on a rotating stool. However, considering not everyone will be able to afford Cybershoes, a simple (and more affordable) way to do this at home is to make use of VR controllers and accessories such as the PlayStation Move controllers.

Anti VR sickness software

There are also useful programs that can help to reduce VR sickness, but theres no guarantee they will work for everyone.

Spanish company, Myou Softwares popular VR software Natural Locomotion allows you to control any SteamVR game by walking, running or jumping, using your feet and arm movements to emulate controller thumbstick input. According to Myou, this creates a more immersive (and therefore more comfortable) experience.

It currently sits at a very positive rating on Steam, based on 88% of reviews and typically sits at a $14 (10, AU$16) price point.

Regular use of VR to reduce VR effects

Another way to reduce VR sickness, although not always guaranteed, is by building up a tolerance; beginning with short play sessions and increasing their lengths over time. This might, however, only work for the games you have practiced with.

Something else to consider is the length of time you spend playing VR games. Research has been carried out into the connection between the length of time a player spends in VR and VR sickness.

Scientists believe its advisable for developers to stipulate a recommended amount of time to spend in any VR experience, as this could reduce the uncomfortable effects that it can cause on the body. So, avoid spending long hours in VR, just as you likely do with regular gaming.

Also, if not expressly stated, try and keep a personal record of how long you can cope with using VR without experiencing any discomfort and use that as a marker for how long to play each time.

Anti-nausea medication

Anti-nausea medication can combat VR sickness for some players just like it does seasickness.

This is a solution we are reluctant to include because some people may have health conditions which could have dangerous interactions with other medications. So, we wont suggest any specific anti-nausea medication, and advise that you always consult your doctor before taking anything.

While VR sickness is an unpleasant experience, a lot is being done to identify and assess its impact and reduce its effects in users. With more and more literature contributing to this, VR developers are assembling the knowledge and tools required to ensure a more pleasant VR experience for gamers worldwide.

Sick intheCar, Sick inVR? Understanding How Real-World Susceptibility toDizziness, Nausea, andEye Strain Influences VR Motion Sickness

1. Ames, S.L., Wolffsohn, J.S., Mcbrien, N.A.: The development of a symptom questionnaire for assessing virtual reality viewing using a head-mounted display. Optom. Vis. Sci. 82(3), 168176 (2005)

   Article Google Scholar

2. Atienza, R., Blonna, R., Saludares, M.I., Casimiro, J., Fuentes, V.: Interaction techniques using head gaze for virtual reality. In: 2016 IEEE Region 10 Symposium (TENSYMP), pp. 110114. IEEE (2016)

   Google Scholar

3. Batmaz, A.U., Barrera Machuca, M.D., Sun, J., Stuerzlinger, W.: The effect of the vergence-accommodation conflict on virtual hand pointing in immersive displays. In: Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 115 (2022)

   Google Scholar

4. Bos, J.E., Bles, W., Groen, E.L.: A theory on visually induced motion sickness. Displays 29(2), 4757 (2008)

   Article Google Scholar

5. Bos, J.E., MacKinnon, S.N., Patterson, A.: Motion sickness symptoms in a ship motion simulator: effects of inside, outside, and no view. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 76(12), 11111118 (2005)

   Google Scholar

6. Buck, L., Paris, R., Bodenheimer, B.: Distance compression in the HTC Vive Pro: a quick revisitation of resolution. Frontiers in Virtual Reality 2, 728667 (2021)

   Article Google Scholar

7. Carnegie, K., Rhee, T.: Reducing visual discomfort with HMDs using dynamic depth of field. IEEE Comput. Graphics Appl. 35(5), 3441 (2015)

   Article Google Scholar

8. Cha, Y.H., et al.: Motion sickness diagnostic criteria: consensus document of the classification committee of the brny society. J. Vestib. Res. 31(5), 327344 (2021)

   Article Google Scholar

9. Chang, C.H., Stoffregen, T.A., Cheng, K.B., Lei, M.K., Li, C.C.: Effects of physical driving experience on body movement and motion sickness among passengers in a virtual vehicle. Exp. Brain Res. 239, 491500 (2021)

   Article Google Scholar

10. Cheung, B., Howard, I., Money, K.: Visually-induced sickness in normal and bilaterally labyrinthine-defective subjects. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 62, 527531 (1991)

    Google Scholar

11. Cho, H.J., Kim, G.J.: RideVR: reducing sickness for in-car virtual reality by mixed-in presentation of motion flow information. IEEE Access 10, 3400334011 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3162221

    Article Google Scholar

12. Chou, T.J., Ting, C.C.: The role of flow experience in cyber-game addiction. CyberPsychol. Beh. 6(6), 663675 (2003)

    Article Google Scholar

13. Davis, S., Nesbitt, K., Nalivaiko, E.: A systematic review of cybersickness. In: Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment, pp. 19 (2014)

    Google Scholar

14. Dobie, T., McBride, D., Dobie, T., Jr., May, J.: The effects of age and sex on susceptibility to motion sickness. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 72(1), 1320 (2001)

    Google Scholar

15. Freiwald, J.P., Gbel, Y., Mostajeran, F., Steinicke, F.: The cybersickness susceptibility questionnaire: predicting virtual reality tolerance. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Mensch und Computer, pp. 115118 (2020)

    Google Scholar

16. Garrido, L.E., et al.: Focusing on cybersickness: pervasiveness, latent trajectories, susceptibility, and effects on the virtual reality experience. Virtual Real. 26, 13471371 (2022)

    Article Google Scholar

17. Golding, J., Rafiq, A., Keshavarz, B.: predicting individual susceptibility to visually induced motion sickness (vims) by questionnaire. Front. Virtual Real. 2, 576871 (2021)

    Article Google Scholar

18. Golding, J.F.: Motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire revised and its relationship to other forms of sickness. Brain Res. Bull. 47(5), 507516 (1998)

    Article Google Scholar

19. Golding, J.F.: Motion sickness susceptibility. Auton. Neurosci. 129(12), 6776 (2006)

    Article Google Scholar

20. Golding, J.F., Gresty, M.A.: Motion sickness. Curr. Opin. Neurol. 18(1), 2934 (2005)

    Article Google Scholar

21. Hettinger, L.J., Riccio, G.E.: Visually induced motion sickness in virtual environments. Presence Teleoper. Virtual Environ. 1(3), 306310 (1992)

    Article Google Scholar

22. Hilken, T., de Ruyter, K., Chylinski, M., Mahr, D., Keeling, D.I.: Augmenting the eye of the beholder: exploring the strategic potential of augmented reality to enhance online service experiences. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 45(6), 884905 (2017)

    Article Google Scholar

23. Irwin, J.: The pathology of sea-sickness. Lancet 118(3039), 907909 (1881)

    Article Google Scholar

24. Kennedy, R.S., Drexler, J., Kennedy, R.C.: Research in visually induced motion sickness. Appl. Ergon. 41(4), 494503 (2010)

    Article Google Scholar

25. Kennedy, R.S., Lane, N.E., Berbaum, K.S., Lilienthal, M.G.: Simulator sickness questionnaire: an enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. Int. J. Aviat. Psychol. 3(3), 203220 (1993)

    Article Google Scholar

26. Keshavarz, B., Golding, J.F.: Motion sickness: current concepts and management. Curr. Opin. Neurol. 35(1), 107112 (2022)

    Article Google Scholar

27. Keshavarz, B., Hecht, H.: Stereoscopic viewing enhances visually induced motion sickness but sound does not. Presence 21(2), 213228 (2012)

    Article Google Scholar

28. Keshavarz, B., Murovec, B., Mohanathas, N., Golding, J.F.: The visually induced motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire (VIMSSQ): estimating individual susceptibility to motion sickness-like symptoms when using visual devices. Hum. Fact. 65, 107124 (2021). p. 00187208211008687

    Article Google Scholar

29. Kim, H.K., Park, J., Choi, Y., Choe, M.: Virtual reality sickness questionnaire (VRSQ): motion sickness measurement index in a virtual reality environment. Appl. Ergon. 69, 6673 (2018)

    Article Google Scholar

30. Kim, Y.Y., Kim, H.J., Kim, E.N., Ko, H.D., Kim, H.T.: Characteristic changes in the physiological components of cybersickness. Psychophysiology 42(5), 616625 (2005)

    Google Scholar

31. Knight, M.M., Arns, L.L.: The relationship among age and other factors on incidence of cybersickness in immersive environment users. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization. APGV 2006, New York, NY, USA, pp. 162. Association for Computing Machinery (2006). https://doi.org/10.1145/1140491.1140539,https://doi.org/10.1145/1140491.1140539

32. Kohl, R.L.: Sensory conflict theory of space motion sickness: an anatomical location for the neuroconflict. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 54, 464465 (1983)

    Google Scholar

33. Kolasinski, E.M.: Simulator sickness in virtual environments, vol. 1027. US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (1995)

    Google Scholar

34. Laugwitz, B., Held, T., Schrepp, M.: Construction and evaluation of a user experience questionnaire. In: Holzinger, A. (ed.) USAB 2008. LNCS, vol. 5298, pp. 6376. Springer, Heidelberg (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89350-9_6

    Chapter Google Scholar

35. LaViola, J.J., Jr.: A discussion of cybersickness in virtual environments. ACM SIGCHI Bull. 32(1), 4756 (2000)

    Article Google Scholar

36. McGill, M., Ng, A., Brewster, S.A.: How visual motion cues can influence sickness for in-car VR. In: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. CHI EA 2017, p. 469, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery (2017). https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3049790

37. Mittelstaedt, H.: A new solution to the problem of the subjective vertical. Naturwissenschaften 70(6), 272281 (1983)

    Article MathSciNet Google Scholar

38. Nalivaiko, E., Davis, S.L., Blackmore, K.L., Vakulin, A., Nesbitt, K.V.: Cybersickness provoked by head-mounted display affects cutaneous vascular tone, heart rate and reaction time. Physiol. Beh. 151, 583590 (2015)

    Article Google Scholar

39. Oman, C.M.: Motion sickness: a synthesis and evaluation of the sensory conflict theory. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 68(2), 294303 (1990)

    Article Google Scholar

40. Paillard, A., et al.: Motion sickness susceptibility in healthy subjects and vestibular patients: effects of gender, age and trait-anxiety. J. Vestib. Res. 23(45), 203209 (2013)

    Article Google Scholar

41. Park, S., Mun, S., Ha, J., Kim, L.: Non-contact measurement of motion sickness using pupillary rhythms from an infrared camera. Sensors 21(14), 4642 (2021)

    Article Google Scholar

42. Rauschnabel, P.A., Felix, R., Hinsch, C., Shahab, H., Alt, F.: What is XR? towards a framework for augmented and virtual reality. Comput. Hum. Beh. 133, 107289 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107289, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074756322200111X

43. Reason, J., Brand, J.: Motion Sickness. Academic Press, London, New York, San Francisco (1975)

    Google Scholar

44. Rebenitsch, L., Owen, C.: Individual variation in susceptibility to cybersickness. In: Proceedings of the 27th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. UIST 2014, pp. 309317, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery (2014). https://doi.org/10.1145/2642918.2647394

45. Rebenitsch, L., Owen, C.: Review on cybersickness in applications and visual displays. Virt. Real. 20(2), 101125 (2016)

    Article Google Scholar

46. Rolnick, A., Lubow, R.: Why is the driver rarely motion sick? The role of controllability in motion sickness. Ergonomics 34(7), 867879 (1991)

    Article Google Scholar

47. Schrepp, M., Hinderks, A., Thomaschewski, J.: Applying the user experience questionnaire (UEQ) in different evaluation scenarios. In: Marcus, A. (ed.) DUXU 2014. LNCS, vol. 8517, pp. 383392. Springer, Cham (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07668-3_37

    Chapter Google Scholar

48. Singla, A., Fremerey, S., Robitza, W., Raake, A.: Measuring and comparing QoE and simulator sickness of omnidirectional videos in different head mounted displays. In: 2017 Ninth International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX), pp. 16. IEEE (2017)

    Google Scholar

49. Solimini, A.G., Mannocci, A., Di Thiene, D., La Torre, G.: A survey of visually induced symptoms and associated factors in spectators of three dimensional stereoscopic movies. BMC Public Health 12, 111 (2012)

    Article Google Scholar

50. Somrak, A., Humar, I., Hossain, M.S., Alhamid, M.F., Hossain, M.A., Guna, J.: Estimating VR sickness and user experience using different HMD technologies: an evaluation study. Futur. Gener. Comput. Syst. 94, 302316 (2019)

    Article Google Scholar

51. Stanney, K.M., Hale, K.S., Nahmens, I., Kennedy, R.S.: What to expect from immersive virtual environment exposure: influences of gender, body mass index, and past experience. Hum. Factors 45(3), 504520 (2003)

    Article Google Scholar

52. Stanney, K.M., Kennedy, R.S., Drexler, J.M.: Cybersickness is not simulator sickness. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, vol. 41, pp. 11381142. SAGE Publications Sage CA, Los Angeles (1997)

    Google Scholar

53. Stauffert, J.P., Niebling, F., Latoschik, M.E.: Effects of latency jitter on simulator sickness in a search task. In: 2018 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), pp. 121127. IEEE (2018)

    Google Scholar

54. Turner, M.: Motion sickness in public road transport: passenger behaviour and susceptibility. Ergonomics 42(3), 444461 (1999)

    Article Google Scholar

55. Venkatesh, V., Thong, J.Y., Xu, X.: Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Quart. 36, 157178 (2012)

    Article Google Scholar

56. Walton, N., Spencer, T., Cowings, P., Toscano, W.B.: Autogenic feedback training exercise: controlling physiological responses to mitigate motion sickness. Technical report (2018)

    Google Scholar

57. Wang, J., Shi, R., Xiao, Z., Qin, X., Liang, H.N.: Effect of render resolution on gameplay experience, performance, and simulator sickness in virtual reality games. Proc. ACM Comput. Graph. Interact. Tech. 5(1), 115 (2022)

    Article Google Scholar

58. Warwick-Evans, L., Symons, N., Fitch, T., Burrows, L.: Evaluating sensory conflict and postural instability. Theories of motion sickness. Brain Res. Bull. 47(5), 465469 (1998)

    Article Google Scholar

59. Weech, S., Kenny, S., Barnett-Cowan, M.: Presence and cybersickness in virtual reality are negatively related: a review. Front. Psychol. 10, 158 (2019)

    Article Google Scholar

60. Zielasko, D.: Subject 001-a detailed self-report of virtual reality induced sickness. In: 2021 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), pp. 165168. IEEE (2021)

    Google Scholar

61. Zou, W., Yang, L., Yang, F., Ma, Z., Zhao, Q.: The impact of screen resolution of HMD on perceptual quality of immersive videos. In: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia & Expo Workshops (ICMEW), pp. 16. IEEE (2020)

    Google Scholar