14 Ways to Overcome or Reduce Motion Sickness in VR
Recently updated on May 6th, 2021 at 01:37 am
Let’s say you just bought a VR headset such as Oculus Quest 2 after heard people having so much fun playing VR. However when you try it yourselves, you experience this kind of uneasiness feeling such as nausea or dizziness. This is what we normally call as motion sickness in VR. Now, suddenly VR is not becoming fun for you anymore. Very frustrating, isn’t it? Is there any way you can reduce the motion sickness in VR so you can enjoy it?
How to Overcome or Reduce VR Motion Sickness?
First of all, don’t return or sell your VR headset yet. Here we try our best to compile the possible ways or suggestions on how you can overcome or reduce the motion sickness in VR. And the list are…
- How to Overcome or Reduce VR Motion Sickness?
- 1) Comfortable Comfort Rating
- 2) Use Teleporting to Move
- 3) Sit Down Approach
- 4) Use the Swivel Chair
- 5) Take A Break
- 6) Watch the High Resolution Video
- 7) Download the Video First
- 8) Don’t Play When You Are Full
- 9) Point the Fan
- 10) Take Ginger
- 11) Gradually Increase VR Time
- 12) Omnidirectional Treadmill
- 13) Anti-Nausea Wristbands
- 14) Motion Sickness Medicine
1) Comfortable Comfort Rating
If you are a beginner in VR, you might want to choose the apps with the “Comfortable” comfort rating. Based from Oculus Store, this level of Comfort Rating is appropriate for most people. Some example of the games and apps are like “Moss” and “Wander“. You don’t need to move a lot in the game so your body can learn to adjust in the virtual environment. Start small…
2) Use Teleporting to Move
Instead of moving around like walking or running, perhaps you can consider use the Teleporting mode if that capability is provided in the VR game or applications. Just point to that location and you’ll be there instantly. This way to move can reduce the chance of you getting dizzy while moving. Some examples of the games are like “Red Matter” and “The Room“.
3) Sit Down Approach
Although you can play the games while you are standing, perhaps as a beginner, you might want to choose those that you can play by sitting. This pose will help your body to adapt to the VR environment and also with your postural stability.
4) Use the Swivel Chair
If you are planning to sit while playing the VR game, perhaps you would like to consider to use the swivel chair. It might help you to rotate your body immediately so your whole body can adjust well. Better if it got the armrest so you can relax your arm a bit if needed.
This type of chair can help you a lot to overcome the motion sickness in VR. If you are still feeling dizzy, move around your swivel chair in a slowly manner.
5) Take A Break
After you use it for a while, perhaps you want to consider to take a break once in a while. If you start to get the dizziness feeling, put a stop to it immediately. Relax and take the time for your body, eyes and mind to be in normal condition again. This usually happen when we watch the long immersive video in “Oculus TV” or “Youtube VR“. Sometimes, you don’t want to stop due to your ego. Just let go of it. It is better to stop for a while than to stop and lose hope in VR forever.
6) Watch the High Resolution Video
Watching the VR video that is blurry and low in resolution might also causing you to become nauseas and feel very, very dizzy. You might want to select those videos that is in high definition format such as 4K and 8K. The sharper, the better.
7) Download the Video First
If you have an internet line that is not so fast and stable, in might interrupt your experience of watching the online VR video in smooth manner. The jerkiness and choppy experience might also causing you to become easily sick in VR. In that case, you might want to download the video first and watch it later. In Oculus TV, some of the video enable you to do it by clicking on the “Cache High Quality“. And for YouTube, you can click on the “Download” button.
8) Don’t Play When You Are Full
This referring to your stomach. Don’t play it after you just finish your heavy lunch or dinner. Take the time for the food being digested first. Imagine last time you throw up in the moving bus or car.
9) Point the Fan
Some also suggest to use fan in front of you. Point the fan straight at you. The air flow and cool temperature might help you to minimize the motion sickness.
10) Take Ginger
Ginger can also help your body by not getting sick very easily in VR. You can take it in the form or supplements, tea or chews. In medical, ginger is used to treat upset stomach and nausea. This is very popular among pregnant women.
11) Gradually Increase VR Time
To adapt your body, eyes and mind in the virtual environment, you might want to gradually increase your time in VR. For example, you can plan for 5 minutes daily in Week 1, then increase to 10 minutes in Week 2. The plan depends on your body tolerance to VR. Once your body can adapt it, then you can join those that can play VR in hours (straight!).
12) Omnidirectional Treadmill
If budget is not an issue to you, you might want to consider to invest in omnidirectional treadmill. The natural walking and running experience might be able to “fool” your mind and body of thinking that they are in sync with what the eyes see.
13) Anti-Nausea Wristbands
Another method is to use the anti-nausea wristbands. This type of wristbands use the acupressure technique to provide the relief. It is proven to work on the pregnant women.
14) Motion Sickness Medicine
Lastly, is to use the motion sickness medicine such as Dramamine. It is popularly known to prevent and to treat the motion sickness that causing the nausea, vomiting and dizziness. Take it around 30 to 60 minutes before doing the VR activity that might trigger the motion sickness. Since it is a medicine, please consult your doctor first before taking it.
Lastly, it is very hard to totally get rid of the motion sickness in VR. There is no guarantee that we can put a full stop to it. The least we can do is to reduce or minimize it. Hopefully, this article can help you to reduce the motion sickness in VR so you can enjoy the VR games and apps a lot more. It’s still too early to give up on VR 🙂
The photo above is by Edwin Soto from Pexels.
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