VR still makes 40-70% of players want to throw up, and that's a huge problem for the companies behind it

Posted this reply in another instance, but several years ago researchers found that adding a virtual nose dramatically decreased motion sickness. However, I haven't seen any developers adding one in games. I wonder if it'd help.

I'm in the other camp. The first time I squeezed my 155m spaceship through the tiny mouth of a rotating space station in VR, I wept like a baby. (An Anaconda in Elite: Dangerous)

I feel like all I see in the VR space is endless articles on new hardware and basically nothing on quality VR games. I always thought I'd upgrade my Vive to an Index or something better one day, but so far the only compelling reason is HL: Alyx and I'm not spending that kind of money on a single game.

Idk about 40-70% that seems ludicrously high. I play all the time, mild motion sickness when I could not run the game well, otherwise no issues.

I haven't touched my VR headset and over a year. VR games just are not good and have very little contents and very little replayability. What I'm trying to say is it's still very much a gimmick.

I enjoy VR gaming and I get motion sickness.

The trick is to slowly acclimate, which takes patience and body awareness. Play for a short amount of time, pause the game when you start to feel slightly warm (or ideally just before that point), and go do something else for 20 minutes or so. With time, the play periods will get longer and the rest breaks will get shorter. Eventually you may stop needing the rest breaks.

A couple caveats: my sample size is 1, a hiatus of more than two weeks means retraining again, and you have to be firm with yourself about stopping on time.

You get used to it. I think people try it for a short while and give up.

Even playing fast-paced shooters on a widescreen will make me slightly “screen-sick” if I haven’t played in a month or two, but it goes away by the next day.

I found VR to be worse for the first couple days, but then it fades, too, and pretty quickly it becomes second nature.

Worst thing I found with VR headsets is the heat. Those displays and sometimes the gpu (depending on headset) get warm, and the HMD is snug on your face so it gets too warm sometimes.

40-70% and 80% for women sounds insanely high. I got a used HTC Vive to have beat saber parties with people and so far none out of about 20 people have experienced nausea even with heavy drinking.

And you even have some vr fans just blindly claiming that all games should use gliding for movement and that having the option to teleport ruins the game even if they don’t use it. even though gliding (they call it natural locomotion) makes people sick because it’s obviously unnatural. They claim there is no need for movement systems that don’t induce motion sickness because it’s a matter of getting used to “natural locomotion” an anyone who doesn’t get better is because they are lying🙄.

That's why I basically dropped VR, and even when playing, I only played beat saber. Alyx was a very bad experience for me (mind blowing game, but not if I'm sick after 15 mins) and with that, every other game with movements (no mans sky ship is very bad)

People get very stuck on this part, and I genuinely don't think it's the issue.

Look, l have very decent "VR legs" at this point, but I'm still not a likely spender and I don't play long games in VR or crack out my headsets very often at all.

The issue is not motion sickness or space or tracking stations. The issue is having to put something on my face and not being comfortably on my couch, free to go pee or get a snack without removing a thing from my face.

And yeah, it's uncomfortable. That's part of it. A version of it that looks and feels like glasses would be less of a problem. But the thing is, those aren't a thing that exists, they are not even an incremental step that we can get to at any point, and also TVs and monitors look just fine.

VR is a neat trick, and I gladly keep my headsets around for any time when something actually interesting pops up. But it was never going to be the next big thing.

its an issue of refresh rate tbh.

I went from vr at 90fps/90hz to 144fps/144hz and i went from motion sick to acceptable.

Headline: VR is Still is Fucking Dope for 30-60% of Players

What kind of statistic is 40-70%? For women It "goes up to 80%", where does it start then? The numbers, what do they mean?

1990s: VR is the future. Put these on!

2000s: VR is the future. Put these on!

2010s: VR is the future. Put these on!

2020s: VR is the future. Put these on!

Some people even get sick just from the wrong FoV and motion speed combination in 3D games, this is just 10 times worse.

I did have motion sickness at first but got used to it quite quickly. It actually disappeared on the 2nd/3rd day of use I think. I have absolutely no problem driving race sims all day long if needed, I’ve been using my VR gear for 3 years now.

I easily get motion sick with first person games, so I can't imagine what VR must be like. My only recourse, however, is imagination because I have a nerve disorder in my face, which makes it extremely sensitive and I can't wear VR gear because of it. I'm far from alone when it comes to people with health issues and VR.

As much as I want VR to be awesome, I've had motion sickness from playing Portal while sitting at a desk. Consequently, I think this is just one of those technologies that I have to be happy for other people to enjoy.

I am highly susceptible to motion-sickness and figured I'd need to test drive before spending $200+ on some new VR gear.

I suspected this was a problem.

HTC, Valve, and Oculus (well before the Facebook buyout) established very early on that frame rates of 90 fps or higher with a response time of <1 ms were critical factors for preventing motion sickness. Meta either hasn't gotten the memo or just doesn't care.

Even with well-established VR legs, I start feeling unpleasant if my FPS starts dropping below 75 for extended periods of time.

Aside from that, it's also down to game development. I've been seeing newer, inexperienced VR developers creating scenes that don't take into consideration how our brains perceive motion; and they end up creating some nausea-inducing scenes or game mechanics, in addition to doing things like shoving your head onto the floor or through an object. The easiest example is pressing into a wall or table, and the colliders shove your head and body back when you're not expecting it.

For those with nausea, I've had some good results with ginger candy. Something chewable that is comprised entirely of ginger.

I take it with me whenever I give a demo somewhere.

Works in seconds.

A suggestion that worked for me was to have a fan blowing on you while playing.

It really depends on the person and the hardware. I've seen people with PC-VR setups that get sick, but are 100% okay with wireless. I think it's an issue of FOV, FPS, and overall just getting used to wearing a big box on your face.

I see a ton of people shitting on VR because they get sick, saying that it's just a gimmick and it'll pass. I think it's a neat piece of tech that deserves to get better, hopefully the issues will be ironed out over the generations.

I went on a a VR rollercoaster with my new girlfriend (asian) at a amusement park where they move the cart according to the movement in VR.

She was totally OK, and I was totally wet of sweat, down to my underwear. I really almost puked.

But I have that problem even on a bus and in a car as a passenger (so I basically always drive if possible). Big ships, trains and airplanes are totally ok.

When I was about 9 I had to puke on the bus and my dad didn't want to have to clean the buss so he let me puke into the pocket of his jacket 🤪

I bought a Vive since I was careless and wanted to see what the VR hype was. Considering that I've probably used it less than 100 hours in about 4 years, I think of it as a bad investment.

In its current technologically limited state, VR feels more like a gimmick than a real experience. I think that all of what VR is currently trying to do is still waiting for that uninvented Star Trek holodeck technology to come around anyway. Headsets and wands are unwieldy and breaking down/setting up the system is a PITA.

I never felt sick from just VR, but the continuous movement (rather than teleporting) made my brain confused like I wanted to fall over, but after a few hours of it I got used to it for good and now have no problems with VR, other than fatigue of moving around so much aha.

I think most people could break it in, but are reluctant to keep playing or play again once they feel sick doing it. While its easy to get immersed, you have to disconnect yourself from it a bit and remember you are in the real world, when friends and family try it I have to make sure they dont walk into walls, but on my own I have full awareness of my surroundings even when I am blind to it. It just takes time to get used to it.

It's a really fun experience, I hope it keeps getting developed regardless of sickness issues. Higher framerates are definitely important, the 120Hz mode on the Index is definitely recommended, any lower and its much more likely to be sickness inducing.

A big part of reducing motion sickness for me was to ensure that the lenses were set to the appropriate pupillary distance. If they're too wide or to narrow, that can affect your body's ability to handle VR

First person shooters already make some people feel nauseous. It's the disconnect between your vision telling you that you're moving while everything else, especially your balance centers, saying you're not.

VR kinda makes it even worse if you're not on some 2D treadmill

Most of them throw up because of the motion. With what I've seen of Metaverse, I can understand that they throw up because of the content, too.

I'm super glad I'm not one of them... I will baselessly credit the Nintendo 3DS with developing that skill

So pretty much like playing Hexen 2 on a P100 in 1997 huh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexen_II

So not a problem at all?

I'm young and have played computer games since childhood, I never bought a VR headset cause anything more than 20 minutes and I feel dizzy as fuck.

VR needs an overhaul for me to actually buy into it, I honestly just think the headsets aren't going to work, I don't think a higher refresh rate will fix this

I only play standing games that stick within the confines of room scale, that way all my movements are natural.

When I play other games, it's teleport or nothing, no other locomotion form works for my, my sense of balance is to sensitive, and I haven't had the time to work to get used to it.. and swinging on vines is way out no.

Curiously I also get severe motion sickness when I drive go karts, but not when I drive cars. Although, sitting in the passenger seat, especially the rear seats, however can be a problem sometimes if I'm going around windy roads)

Today l learned that some people get motion sickness from playing flatscreen games. How do you even survive a car? Let alone an airplane?

I used to get sick but it goes away with time.

"... and that's a huge problem for the companies behind it."

Thank you for clarifying.

You get used to it. It helps to have a good graphics card so that the frame rate is high enough. I am sad many good games don't support VR. I.e. Start Citizen, Cyberpunk 2077, etc. Yes, there are mods for it, but it should be supported natively (if mods can do it, why can't the developer?). It is just so much more immersive to be able to look around naturally and see stereoscopic.

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Meanwhile I'm over here still wanting to try it out.

The closest I've ever gotten was trying out virtual boy when it was brand new in stores and had one set up for people to try out.

I'd love to try it before buying. Not really interested in buying without it, but that's not how things work anymore. So I guess I'm just gonna skip it unless it gets massively popular and it's just everywhere and I'm stuck missing out on something huge if I don't have it.

VR has very little appeal to me.

I’m a game developer who had a chance to create a VR game. I have to admit, VR was not my cup of tea at first. It gave me a terrible headache and nausea for hours after playing for a short time. But I was determined to overcome it and I kept practicing. Now I can enjoy VR for hours without any issues. I think kids will be fascinated by VR as well, even if they have some initial discomfort. They will be amazed by the simple games that make them feel like they’re in a different reality. VR is not about making games that look like real life, like Call of Duty. It’s about making games that let you explore new worlds and possibilities. Imagine playing games that involve sports or exercise in VR, or games that let you interact with 3D characters that have realistic personalities thanks to LLM AI. You could make friends and connections with them instead of fighting them. That would be awesome, right?

The only time I've ever felt nauseous playing VR games is when the game has sliding locomotion instead of teleport. When the whole world moves like I'm walking but I'm not actually walking, it feels like everything is slipping and creates nausea.

Maybe we just aren't built to experience motion in this way.

I can spend hours doing VR, prefer standing but some games are sitting. High paced jumping/spinning/flipping games. Elite dangerous, Sorento (sp), robo recall, windlands. No issue of sickness at any point, even with fps drops and frame hangs

I'm in the group that gets violently sick using VR. It also induces blinding migraines. Oddly, I don't get car/air/seasick.

I read this as "40-70% of VR developers don't know what they are doing". What needs to be done to avoid motion sickness has been known for a long while now.

It isn't a problem with screen technology or processing technology or anything like that. We aren't going to "tech" our way out of this.
It is a biological problem and as such, I think the appeal of VR will always be rather niche.

Even the best selling VR headset that I found online was the Quest 2 and it "only" sold like 15M units (honestly way more than I ever expected) with everything else being considerably lower volume. Compare that to the number of Nintendo Switches sold (130M) and you start to see how small the VR market is. I am very curious to see how the Sony VR2 will end up selling. I would love to get a pair, but I think all these headsets will be short lived.

I tried a VR headset in an electronics store once and I vomited almost immediately.

I bought a box of cookies for the janitor the next day.

Are they just using shitty headsets, such as the Oculus ones? I've never had this issue with HTC Vive OR Valve Index...

I'm honestly curious about the science behind why VR makes some people motion sick. My first time using VR I never got motion sick once and never have since then. And my sister on the other hand got motion sick instantly when she tried it.

Edit: Fixed my atrocious spelling, must've been high or something.

start chewing bubblegum (with mint) if you have issues with vr, it sounds stupid but it really helps

Clearly they need to understand how... much data they can manipulate at once

Maybe I'm just old, but I never want to adopt VR, just like I never wanted to adopt 3-D Tvs.

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Let’s see if vision pro holds up against this number with it’s special chip.

No motion sickness, but most VR games make me disorientated after a while and I just don't enjoy them very much. They're fun for a couple of hours once in a great while, but I never see myself doing it as a daily hobby.

I know I'm not really in a virtual world. A helmet isn't going to fool me.

VR still sucks, but didnt boats make people want to throw up. Then trains, then cars. They still do sometimes, but it'll be worth it

VR is like flying cars. It's a stupid idea that sounds cool.

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What we can do about feeling sick is to ignore VR and never use it again.