Motion sickness, or VR nausea, has long been a part of virtual reality. What causes it and how can it be addressed?
Nearly eight years have elapsed since the initial VR headset for consumers hit the market. The sector has adapted to motion sickness, but a complete solution to the issue remains elusive.
This is supported by a 2021 study involving 4,500 German VR users. Motion sickness was identified as the primary hurdle facing the emerging medium. The findings revealed that two-thirds of participants have experienced the condition, with one-third frequently or always feeling it while using VR.
This indicates that motion sickness continues to be a challenge and will persist until a technical remedy is developed. In the meantime, a mix of quality technology, careful app selection, appropriate comfort settings, and knowledgeable interaction with virtual reality can lead to a comfortable VR experience.
What is motion sickness?
Motion sickness is a phenomenon that can occur during passive forms of locomotion. Many individuals recognize the symptoms from travel experiences, such as boating or being a passenger in a vehicle. Additionally, many people encounter motion sickness while using VR, even when they’re stationary. In this context, it can also be termed cybersickness, VR nausea, or motion sickness.
Discomfort can appear abruptly or gradually, and it may worsen with duration and individual susceptibility. Common symptoms include dizziness, headaches, nausea, and, in severe cases, vomiting.
While motion sickness is not fully understood, the underlying causes are identified. It manifests when visual input contradicts the vestibular system in the inner ear.
To illustrate, during a boat or car ride, the inner ear perceives movement, yet the eyes may register a sense of stillness unless focused on the environment—such as when reading or looking at a smartphone.
This sensory conflict triggers the brain to react, mistakenly interpreting the situation as poisoning, leading to nausea as a means to expel the perceived harmful substance. Hence, motion sickness is a natural physiological response that resolves on its own.
Why does motion sickness occur with virtual reality?
Virtual reality prompts motion sickness for similar reasons. This typically results when VR users artificially move about. Rather than physically traversing a game world, they navigate virtually, relying on controls like the analog stick or buttons.
Initially, it may feel akin to gliding through the environment on a skateboard, scooter, or Segway. The reliance on this artificial locomotion is clear as it’s the only way to transcend physical boundaries and freely navigate virtual landscapes, akin to traditional video games, but immersive within the game itself.
Fluid locomotion via analog stick. For most VR players, this remains the most intuitive type of artificial movement, yet it may induce motion sickness as one remains physically stationary. | Image: Facebook
In this manner, the visual system perceives motion while the inner ear does not because you are genuinely in a fixed position. This presents the reverse situation compared to boat and car rides. Nonetheless, the result is identical for sensitive individuals: discomfort.
The more realistic the sensory feedback and the more extreme the artificial locomotion, the stronger the body’s reaction to this sensory contradiction. Consequently, motion sickness is not exclusive to virtual reality; particularly sensitive individuals may feel queasy even playing a first-person shooter on a traditional screen.
Does motion sickness always occur for everyone?
No. Two key factors contribute to the emergence of motion sickness during VR experiences. First, the VR content itself. Second, individual sensitivity to artificial movement.
The array of VR content is broad, and many applications avoid artificial movement altogether. Practically, this results in every virtual movement corresponding to a real-world movement, mirroring real-life experiences. Beat Saber, the most popular VR game to date, exemplifies this well. To mitigate the need for completely forgoing artificial locomotion, the VR industry has developed software techniques to reduce the likelihood of motion sickness.
Some VR titles, including Half-Life: Alyx and Skyrim VR, employ teleportation or artificial tunnel vision to alleviate or at least lessen discomfort. A research team compiled an online catalog of over a hundred such techniques, designed to guide users, developers, and researchers alike.
Many VR titles provide various and customizable modes of artificial movement. As a VR player, you can choose what you’re comfortable experiencing. | Image: Half-Life: Alyx / Valve
Understanding your sensitivity to artificial locomotion requires personal experimentation.
Motion sickness is a highly personal experience. While some individuals become ill from minimal artificial movement, others might not feel any discomfort even during virtual roller coaster experiences. The scientific community has yet to determine why this variability exists.
How can I prevent motion sickness?
Reducing or avoiding VR motion sickness involves selecting appropriate hardware, experiences, and settings.
Choosing the right hardware
Inexpensive cardboard alternatives and smartphone VR setups are not recommended for newcomers to virtual reality, even if they are the budget-friendly choice. These generally represent outdated VR technology that captures only head movements without accounting for the user’s spatial movements, thereby inducing sensory conflict.
For a pleasant VR experience, a headset should provide support for 6-DoF tracking, which encompasses all six degrees of freedom: tilt (1), pan (2), rotate (3), and movements in three-dimensional space—forward and backward (4), side to side (5), and up and down (6). Most contemporary devices, like Meta Quest 3 and Playstation VR 2, natively support 6-DoF tracking. Any other VR headset now belongs in a museum.
Other technical considerations influencing motion sickness include the latency and frame rate of the VR headset. Experiencing any delay in personal movements being displayed, or if the visual feed is choppy, can lead to feelings of nausea.
Modern devices typically do not experience issues related to latency and frame rate. When publishing VR games via the Meta Quest Store or Playstation Store, it is essential to optimize your software for consistent frame rates. Such issues generally only arise in scenarios like PC VR streaming.
Choosing the right experiences
Begin your VR journey with suitable applications. Jumping right into a racing game or virtual roller coaster experience risks an unpleasant time. You can discover appropriate titles in our article 22 VR games without stress: The most accessible VR games for every age group.
Researching VR games through reviews and YouTube content can also help you understand what to expect. Some platforms, like the Meta Quest Store, provide a comfort level orientation for each VR application, ranging from “Pleasant” to “Moderate” and “Demanding”.
180- and 360-degree films are unique in this respect. Since the viewing angle is fixed, only head movements are tracked, not physical navigating through space. To minimize nausea, it’s best to watch such content while remaining stationary or using a swivel chair, avoiding movement throughout the room when possible.
Choose the right comfort settings
Most contemporary VR games feature settings that enable you to tailor artificial movement to your preferences. Beginners should explore these options and find out through experimentation which configurations work best for them.
Common settings include:
- Artificial Locomotion:
- Smooth locomotion (“Smooth Locomotion”)
- Jumping or rapid transitions from one spot to another (“Dash”)
- Teleportation from one point to another
- Artificial Rotations:
- Smooth Turns
- Quick turns, typically adjustable by set degree increments (15/30/45 degrees)
- Snap Turns, generally in adjustable degree increments (15/30/45 degrees)
In various games, you can also enable tunnel vision (“vignette”) for artificial movement and adjust its intensity. This may further aid in curtailing motion sickness.
Can I get used to artificial locomotion?
Many players appreciate artificial locomotion for its immersive experience compared to options like teleportation. Some find it more convenient as it eliminates the need for performing all movements independently. Furthermore, only artificial locomotion facilitates exploration of virtual environments akin to traditional video games. This desire may lead susceptible VR users to wish to “train” themselves to endure it.
However, caution is advised. The best path is to experiment with comfort settings in VR games and gradually approach titles featuring more challenging artificial movement.
Artificially narrowing the field of view during movement can lessen or even entirely prevent motion sickness. | Image: Eagle Flight / Ubisoft
If you start feeling unwell, discontinue immediately. Remove the VR headset and wait prior to giving it another try. Do not attempt again until you feel completely well.
Pushing through the discomfort can lead to undesirable outcomes. In severe cases, the symptoms may linger for hours, causing the brain to associate virtual reality with nausea. This can result in symptoms occurring even during typical VR activities, thereby effectively training your body to reject VR experiences.
I am prone to motion sickness — is VR over for me?
There is no assurance that you can acclimate to any form of movement in VR. Developing a tolerance to motion sickness cannot be forced. However, this does not imply that VR is off-limits if you struggle with fluid motion. Many VR games operate without artificial movement, successfully delivering the essence of VR.
Don’t hesitate to experiment with different games or applications. Motion sickness may occur in one game but be non-existent in another similar title. Once again, heed your body’s signals; if discomfort arises, remove the VR headset. If recurring symptoms are experienced, you can generally return the VR game. Numerous games also offer free demos that allow you to try before purchasing.
Be cautious with medications or other remedies. Ginger or specialized drugs can help alleviate the effects of motion sickness, but they do not address the underlying issues. Such solutions should only be considered in extraordinary circumstances, such as when undertaking extended sessions for work.
What solutions can we expect in the future?
A variety of research initiatives aim to technically address the problem of motion sickness. Most of these approaches involve artificially stimulating the inner ear to align with perceived motion, thereby reducing or eliminating the sensory discrepancies that lead to discomfort. This method is known as “Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation” (GVS).
In this context, various headbands and even headphones have been introduced, but they failed to gain traction. These instances demonstrate that a straightforward technical solution that resolves the issue entirely is unlikely to materialize in the near future. However, this may not be essential, provided VR users possess a thorough understanding of the medium and themselves, allowing them to identify which types of virtual reality align with their preferences—and which do not.
