Why Would Gamers Be Plagued by VR Motion Sickness?

With the concept of Metaverse being created and gradually acquainted by the public, more and more eyes center on virtual reality and wish to dive into the virtual  adventures in there! However, not everyone can directly set foot in this by just putting a VR headset on, there’s a crowd of people who stop outside the threshold of virtual reality being stranded by the VR motion sickness:(.

What actually is VR Motion Sickness?

Virtual reality motion sickness, also known as cybersickness or simulator sickness, occurs due to a dissonanse between visual perception and physical motion cues. This sensory conflict disrupts the normal integration of visual and vestibular (balance and motion sensing) information, leading to motion sickness symptoms like nausea, dizziness, headache, and disorientation.

Simply speaking, it happens while what you see is not what you feel or what you feel is not in the same pace with what you see, eg: your eyes saw you are running in a VR game in the headset as you’re pushing the joystick , but your body or legs stay still without a sense of participation. After this continues for a while, you feel the sky and the earth are spinning around, the discomfort followed by this makes you just wanna get away from the virtual world immediately and deter to try any VR thing.

What would be the Inducements for VR Motion Sickness?

Subjective and objective factors both contribute to VR Motion Sickness.

Let’s first start from the objective ones!

• Mismatched sensory information& Sensory disorientation: VR systems aim to provide an immersive experience by presenting visual information that simulates a three-dimensional environment. However, as mentioned above, when your body remains stationary while your eyes perceive motion in the virtual world, eg: you may perform actions such us walking or running in virtual reality without actual physical movement, sensory inconsistency and sensory disorientation may appear between what you see (visual perception) and what you physically experience (proprioception - body awareness), which can lead to feelings of discomfort and disorientation and thus trigger motion sickness.

• Lag and Latency: If a noticeable delay exists between your movements and the corresponding visual updates in the VR environment, it can lead to a disconnect between your perception and actions. This delay, known as latency, can contribute to motion sickness.

• Field of view (FOV): The FOV in VR headsets and the FOV of natural human may not reach a complete match. Limited FOV can cause a sense of tunnel vision, making it harder for your brain to reconcile the visual input with themotion perceived by your body.

• Rapid or unnatural movements: Virtual reality experiences often involve rapid movements, such as flying or roller coaster simulations. These quick accelerations and decelerations, especially when combined with rotational movements, can disrupt your body's sense of balance and increase the likelihood of motion sickness.

• Environmental factors: Factors such as a hot or stuffy environment, strong odors, or visual discomfort caused by low-resolution graphics, flickering screens, or improper calibration of the VR system can contribute to motion sickness symptoms.