How To Prevent Motion Sickness In Virtual Reality

28 Comments

1. If you do vomit from your first few times on VR, coconut water will help you feel better quickly.

2. Yes, I experience motion sickness, in some games.  But, I really get the stomach turn, with those walking travel cameras, to the point, I can't continue.  And of course the roller coasters.  I kind of stay clear of the coasters. I'm looking forward to how the Quest will feel???

3. I don't get VR sickness (I don't think). But when I play a game with loco-motion, wow do I feel like I'm being pushed and almost fall over (but no nausea). I get motion sickness, so before I bought the Oculus Rift, I thought I was gonna get VR sickness. Thankfully, that's not the case.

4. Thanks for the advise for those that get sick Mike, and I am one of the luckier ones that (generally) don't get sick. When people ask me in relation to VR for Sim-Racing, the first thing I ask them is if they get car sick / boat sick etc – and warn them that maybe they should try to find a friend with VR first (or a Kiosk) to try it first in small doses, if they are heavily prone to car sickness. But just as an example, given I almost always never feel sick. I showed off this very well known brand of "Toy Car" that was done as a silly race car for one of the racing games. But it does these "Wheelies" similar to a drag car that lifts it's front end up at the start of a drag race. It made me feel nauseous though, but I made that mistake of trying to push thru it, just to get the video done. And I ended up being sick for almost a day & a half……. YUCK!!!
   P.S. I left a warning in the link to download the car – that it could cause VR users to be sick and to use with caution…

5. Thank you so much for making this vid. I gotta send this to my friend who hates every game that has any movement besides teleportation

6. First, thank you very much for this content. VR sickness can be rough.
   Second, while speaking with your hands can be more visually appealing in a video, it's kinda goofy if your only motion is pointing both hands at the camera before clasping them together :P.

7. I expected to have major problems with VR sickness since I become carsick very easily and can't even do a kiddie teacup ride at a carnival, but I had no problems except very mild nausea with intense experiences at first. A good friend of mine, though, never had problems with motion sickness but at first couldn't play anything for more than 4 minutes without becoming intensely ill. He played every day, a little more each time, until he got used to it. People can get used to anything after enough exposure.

8. 4 in 10? literally every person I know who has tried regular movement has gotten motion sick.

9. Great video Mike. This should help a few people. I have my VR legs and recently I was starting to get headaches after playing for a couple hours. It turned out I had accidentally bumped the nob that controls my IPD and it was 1 mm off of my normal IPD, that was all it took to give me headaches. Now that my IPD is normal I can play for 10 hours straight with no side effects.

10. for me i play fine without motion sickness, i can use smooth walk and snap turn with no issues, but if i use smooth turning for 2 seconds i get sick

11. To get used to artificial locomotion like sliding over the ground, I would recommend using comfort options like reduced field of view, a floor grid, a wireframe cage or whatever the game offers to reduce the risk of nausea. This is how I got used to smooth locomotion in VR while standing, I played lots of Gunheart with FoV reduction while sliding, and after a couple of weeks I simply turned it off.

    In the early days with the DK1, I did exactly what you describe Mike, just that when I played HL2 I stopped immediately, and did not play until the next day. Then I kept doing this for a few weeks over summer and eventually I was up to 3 hour sessions that were only broken off as my headphones created a pressure point on my skull. That was the making of my seated VR legs.

    Considering these have been slow and in the case of HL2 pretty intense acclimatization methods, I'm not sure how many are willing to go through it, or that give up quickly. I think this is a problem VR will have until we get that vibrating nausea-reduction unit built into headsets. Sadly that is so far only being made for medical and military purposes from what I've heard.

12. When I first got my rift a few weeks ago I got motion sickness really bad. Then I figured out I didn’t have the pupil distance set right. After getting that tweaked I quit having the issues I was having. Also, I was playing zero caliber and enabled the smooth turn control on my right thumb stick. That was a huge mistake. I was dizzy and nearly vomited after only a few min. I switched it back to snap at around 45 degrees and felt fine. I would definitely take the time to fully calibrate your system before jumping into an intense game. I know it’s hard cause you just want to play that sweet game as quick as possible, but it will save you a lot of actual headache

13. Awesome video man, I've been playing my HTC vive for about a month now and been alright with most games. The only game I've had to send me over the top was subnautica. It was too much freedom and up and down movement haha, everything I wanted in VR but too much for my brain to handle haha.

14. can you cover seeking dawn again? i saw it got a huge update called 2.0

15. Good video. Ive always used a fan for comfort. I never get motion sick in VR though unless the game itself is glitchy.

16. I guess im one of the lucky ones?

17. The first game I tried after buying my Rift, was Lucky's Tale. It felt like my chair was rolling all over the place. I didn't even last 5 minutes before feeling sick. I tried again a few days later, and went a bit further, but still wound up feeling sick. I then gave up on Lucky's Tale. I then started playing Arizona Sunshine, using the teleportation method. After a month or so, I decided to start trying locomotion instead. Again, I only lasted a few minutes before feeling like I would be ill if I kept going. But after a few days rest, I got back in, and lasted close to 20 minutes before feeling uncomfortable. I'm now working on Lone Echo, without feeling nauseous in the least. I think the trick is to slowly desensitize yourself, stopping before you actually get sick, and taking a couple of days off between sessions if you do feel sick.

18. I used to get motion sick all the time. I even got motion sick playing Doom back in 1995. Took me a few weeks to get used to it. Then VR came along and I had to get used to motion sickness all over again. Now though, when I first play a new VR game, I turn all comfort settings off. I can play all the most intense stuff now, without even breaking a sweat. (even Overload which has you flipping around in your spaceship in confined spaces. If you like "Descent", check it out). When I get my Pimax, I might have to grow my VR legs all over again, though.

19. RUSH is surprisingly very very comfortable. I tested it on 30 people or more and none felt sick. They all enjoyed it

20. I jumped strait in and have no motion sickness whatever what

21. Some great advice Mike, thanks. I think you've covered most solutions & I very much agree with a cool fan & small doses to start with until you get your "VR legs". Some also suggest travel sickness medication. One thing I sometimes do is when walking around in game I also walk on the spot IRL. Not marching band walk but a little shuffle so the brain makes some association with walking motion. You may look daft but it's far better that being put horizontal with sickness.

22. Motion sickness isn't that bad for me. I did get it once in a while when I started playing VR but its like you start building a tolerance to it. When you start feeling it though, it does NOT get better unless you stop playing. Take off the headset until it goes away then try again. Your body gets used to it for sure. I got super sick after trying minecraft for the first time. I kept pushing myself and it was a mistake. I got sick just thinking about VR after that. I finally got back in and didn't get sick. It's very strange how strongly your brain associates feeling sick with VR when this happens to you.
    PS. What HL2 VR mod?

23. I just got my Oculus Rift a few days ago and when i started playing pavlov vr, i experienced motion sickness very fast beacuse of how fast the game is. And beacuse my sensors ins't fully set up yet i have to turn with smooth turn, witch you said could cause dizzyness and motion sickness too. Anways i'll use your advice, thanks for your guide, this video is just what i needed.

24. Also get a big cup with a lid and a straw so you don't have to keep taking your headset on & off for a drink and the risk of knocking it on the floor.

25. Had VR for about 2 years, yet I still find that I am MUCH more comfortable if I move fairly slowly, say at a normal walking pace for most of the time when in smooth locomotion games, I tend to run only sporadically when speed is of the essence.

26. Thanks for the tips!

27. For some reason, a fan pointed at me while in VR makes a big difference.

28. First