How to tackle VR induced nausea

The PlayStation VR has been in the hands of the general public for around a week now, and I’ve managed to get my hands on one too. I VERY rarely feel motion sickness, but I still found myself a little queasy after playing certain titles. It’s important to remember that absolutely everyone will react differently to every single game in VR, and there’s no real way to tell whether or not something will make you sick outside of an educated guess. With the hardware being so expensive, I of course want to get as much use out of it as possible, and I’d hedge a bet that other early adopters do so too. Here’s a few little tips and rules to follow to get you started, and hopefully greatly reduce your levels of discomfort whilst playing. Let’s start by discussing what actually sets motion sickness off. In simple terms, one of the most common causes for it is when your eyes perceive movement but your body does not (a lot of this is controlled by the inner ear). Your brain receives conflicting messages and starts to panic, and everything goes haywire. We get this when traveling in cars as our eyes can see that we’re going really fast, but our ears can only perceive that we’re sitting still. Exactly the same logic would be applied to many VR titles; we’re seeing motion all around us, and fairly convincingly so, but our ears realise we’re not actually going anywhere. Add this to the extreme movements and disorientation of certain titles (EVE Valkyrie for example), and the fact that many people find 3D images particularly harsh on the eyes, and you’ve got a one-way ticket to Chunder Town. To lower your chances of getting motion sickness to begin with, it’s recommended that you don’t eat excessively or drink alcohol before playing. Don’t play when you’re too tired or you’ve just woken up either. You really want to be fully aware and without fatigue. Chewing gum whilst playing helps as it gives your brain something else to actively focus on and more or less helps keep it grounded in reality. Eating ginger is also a good way to both prevent motion sickness or reduce the effects. Something in it really helps to dull the symptoms, so something like a pack of ginger biscuits is worth keeping within reach of your play area. This one may sound obvious, but it’s really not. Remember to breath. VR takes a lot of energy to use, can be very very exciting! It’s easy to become to short of breath without realising. Make sure to take regular, deep breaths in and out. Not only will this help you relax and likely do better at whatever title you’re playing, but it will also insure that your brain receives enough oxygen to keep firing on all cylinders. If you start to feel motion sickness, take your headset off immediately (regardless of what you’re playing and if you’re in an online match or not), keep as still as possible and focus your vision on a static object. Getting some fresh air will help too. Some games have built in nausea countermeasures. Rigs limits peripheral vision whilst turning, for example. Unfortunately a lot of people find that these features actually cause them even greater motion sickness. I don’t necessarily feel that these were oversights by the developers, but perhaps just what worked best for them. Again, let’s keep in mind that EVERYONE reacts differently to VR, so what induces nausea in some will not in others. A few games have the option to turn these features off, or just play around with the VR and graphical options in general, so by all means play around with the settings and see what works best for you. Perhaps the most important piece of advice is to follow the playing suggestions set by the developers. If it says your title is best played in 10 minute sessions, play it in 10 minute sessions. VR takes time to acclimate to, so please be patient and follow the instructions. You’re also likely going to be able to play for extended periods of time the more you play. I’ve found no more than one session a day is a good starting point. Also pay attention to how the game asks you to position yourself. Don’t stand up at any point if you’re told to play in a seated position, lest your stomach reject its contents all over your controller. If your symptoms persist, do not put the headset back on, and go and see your doctor. There are medications you can take to combat motion sickness, but I’m not in any way qualified to recommend or talk about them. At the end of the day, you have to remember not to put your fun before your health, and I strongly doubt feeling sick to your core is your favourite pastime anyhow. See if any of these little tricks work for you, and enjoy playing your PlayStation VR.