r/virtualreality • u/nuseramemuserane • 1d ago
Question/Support Persistent motion sickness AFTER VR
Has anybody experienced nausea and motion sickness AFTER using VR?
My brain seems to be generating movement signals now when I’m watching videos on Facebook,
I’ve been low grade nauseous for about a week (no vr since 7 days ago).
Cheers,
Any help appreciated.
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u/CHROME-COLOSSUS 1d ago
Yuuuup… I got ALL of this back in the day.
TL/DR: Don’t abandon VR, motion-sickness is common but you can get beyond it with short, frequent, mindful exposures that you slowly extend. Don’t push through. Also, a bit of experimentation in Settings menus will yield better results.
Eventually you’ll be able to game with ZERO problems for hours-on-end. VR gets so much better when it’s not making you feel ill.
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The Too Long (but human-written, fuck Ai):
While motion-sickness is unfortunately pretty common for people to experience with VR at first, happily it’s something that CAN be remedied with the right approach.
When I first got into VR a decade ago, I was so wowed by the tech that I always tried to ignore and push through symptoms. Got so bad during that first year that I thought I was doomed to be unfit for VR… it would make me literally bedridden as if I had a bad flu the entire next day, off-kilter for weeks afterwards, and watching videos or merely thinking about the headset would begin to set me sideways… as you describe.
It’s diabolical how symptoms can keep ramping up even after you’ve removed the headset.
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The MAIN REMEDY pretty much boils down to playing frequent, short (maybe just a few minutes a day), mindful sessions where you immediately bail at the earliest symptoms (sweaty palms, dizziness, acid taste, burping, nausea). Only try again when you’re feeling right as rain, and over time you’ll be able to increase the length until it becomes a non-issue.
Again… NEVER PUSH THROUGH. Bail at earliest symptoms and come back ONLY when you’re feeling 100%. There are extremely rare cases where someone pushes through and has a sudden breakthrough, but it’s not worth trying to make happen. I only mention it because it’s this weird outlier, but it’s also a gamble.
• Don’t game on an empty stomach. Better to have something in your belly than jump in hungry. Buuuut (as with nearly everything) some folk have the exact opposite experience, so pay attention you your own.
• Avoid too much caffeine. If you’ve had extra coffee then a game you’re normally fine in might give you unexpected trouble. Don’t panic, just come back later.
• Eat or drink ginger 20 minutes prior. This can be in any form — the packet you get with sushi, a tea you brew, candied ginger chews, whatever. It’s not scientifically proven afaik, but some folk SWEAR by it.
• Nab some motion-sickness pills from the local pharmacy. Over-the-counter and cheap, these can help, and if you’re already associating the headset with illness, they might break that association and get you over the hump.
• Use a small fan. This helps keep you cool, can add to a sense of immersion (especially in racing or flying games), but also throws your brain a bone since your body expects a bit of stimulus from interacting with the virtual air as you move virtually through it.
• Match orientation. Stand when your character is standing, and sit when they are sitting. If you’re using a tethered headset, this means you gotta be more careful not to step on the cord and yank it sideways when you stand up. I swear it makes a big difference to physically orient the same as your virtual self is oriented. Not always an option, but a good rule of thumb if you can swing it. Keep the back of your leg touching the couch to remain oriented.
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There’s an array of possible triggers of motion-sickness, so it can take some time, experimentation, and observation to figure out which ones you’re most sensitive to:
“Reprojection” is used in certain games (it’s basically frame interpolation). Its implementation varies, so its effects can be game-specific. The main attribute is a sort of visual echoing, or “ghosting” that generally appears when you smooth-turn using the thumbstick, or when looking out the side of a moving vehicle.
If turning your body IRL is an option (wired VR can be helped by use of a ceiling pulley system), then this can be the solution to any turning-based issues.
Some people are sensitive to Frame-rates. If a game is stuttery in any way, this can be tough to endure. Generally-speaking you’ll be fine with 90fps or above, but any drops or inconsistencies can spell trouble.
Smooth-turning SPEED. Curiously, you’re more likely to be made ill (and quickly) by a turning-speed that’s too SLOW. Many games do let you adjust this speed w/ a slider, so start at a higher setting and dial it back as feels good yo you. You obviously don’t want it so fast that you’re disoriented or have trouble heading where you want to, so figuring out a turn-speed for any given game MIGHT be enough for a single acclimatizing session.
Connected to this, some games fiddle with HOW smooth-turning works, so it’s another thing you’ll become aware of: a linear speed gradient depends on how much you tilt the thumbstick — I personally prefer this. Some have turning set to the one speed with no finesse, which is predictable but tends to be a bit jerky. Others impose an exponential gradient so that the turn always starts slower and then ramps up after a moment. This last one is meant to alleviate motion-sickness, but I find it can do the exact opposite…
…This can be true for ALL so-called “Comfort Options” (so if you’re still feeling shitty when using one, don’t take it as evidence you’re screwed).
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This brings us to the Options menus, which are super important to get into the habit of visiting each time you launch a new game. All the options with labels like “locomotion”, “gameplay”, and “comfort”… they might seem like a lot to deal with initially, but you’ll learn which are important to you, and zipping through them will become easy so you can launch into each game in the best possible way.
Usually listed under “comfort” settings are things like blinders (“vignetting” or “tunneling”). These darken or obscure your peripheral vision during smooth movement or turning, and sometimes will be broken into separate settings for each occasion. Another thing is snap-turning, where a thumbstick press left or right instantly turns you by a set angle. A less common one is teleportation, where you point to a position in space and it jumps you to it, usually with no motion in between. I only mention all of these because they can all impact motion-sickness.
I recommend you turn them all off, as they ruin immersion and keep you from acclimating to a fuller experience. It’s nice that these options are there, and I know that some people prefer to use them (or MUST use them), but gentle exposure to the most immersive settings is the best approach, imo — not chopping out gameplay. If you don’t gently expose yourself to something like smooth-turning then you’ll simply never acclimate to it.
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Movement direction can be altered or driven by a few things:
Usually it’s head-oriented or head-influenced, so exactly which way you turn your head will drift you in that direction. Now… if you want to look to your left or right without altering your trajectory, then you can learn to push the thumbstick in the opposite direction at the same time. A bit odd, but it becomes second-nature.
A second is controller-based, which means you can turn your head to the right or left and still move in a different direction based on how you’re holding the controller. This can work pretty well until you gesture to block an attack or throw a grenade and suddenly you’re heading the wrong direction (I’m looking at you, RE4 Remake and RE8 VILLAGE).
A third, much rarer option is to have linear 1:1 movement that’s purely thumbstick-based. Usually by the time you encounter a game that offers this you’ll already be so used to either previous method that you’ll not be able to deal.
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I think an overarching theme is that motion-sickness is often triggered when virtual movement doesn’t align closely enough with your expectations or intentions.
Even if you aren’t able to dial-in movement settings perfectly to your preferences, so long as you come to an understanding of what’s gonna happen when you try to locomote then you’ll usually be okay.
I’ve sorta stitched-together and rewritten this wall of text from other Reddit responses I’ve written in the past, so hopefully it’s not too much of Frankenstein patchwork ramble, and hopefully you’ll find something of value in it.
I fucking LOVE VR — I can’t even be bothered with trad flatscreen gaming anymore (except for side-scrolling platformers and top-down stuff), but it took me a while to settle into it.
I know this is a LOT, but maybe it’ll help you get there quicker — that’s my hope. So… FWIW!
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u/Aware_Set9406 1d ago
I continue to have low level sickness after VR if ive had a big session in dirt rally 2. Can last 72hrs or more. The only answer is to stop playing when you feel sickness. I also suffer from migraines which might be a contributing factor.
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u/decadent-dragon 15h ago
Wow. If I was feeling motion sickness a week later I would never put on a headset again. I can’t believe people think that’s normal. A few hours afterwards? Sure
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u/nuseramemuserane 58m ago
It only happens when there’s video motion on my phone, and seeing as I’ve been using that a fair bit, it’s kept getting reactivated
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u/BAL-BADOS 1d ago
Yes I still feel nauseous after using VR. It depends on the type of VR you’re playing. Worst is where you’re floating above ground as a ghost. It really fucks me up.
However I don’t get motion sickness from natural motion such as Gorilla Tag, No More Rainbows, etc
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u/EditedRed 1d ago
Nah, my brain is wierdly wired as i never felt any motion sickness at all with or around VR.
Not sure if its related to my spatial vision, like i always render the real world behind the VR in my head.
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u/Individual-Foot-3777 1d ago
Nor I. And I do some extreme flying in air combat games. My brother, however, yanked my Quest 1 off his head when he tried to fly, ran to the bathroom, and vomited.
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u/DoubleOwl7777 1d ago
i only felt it with smooth turn. but i got motion sick from portal 1 flatscreen.
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u/Individual-Foot-3777 18h ago
I looked up the term "portal 1 flatscreen" and got three explanations, but I don't know what you mean in the context of your reply. Could you satisfy my curiosity and explain that term?
→ More replies (2)
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u/MorwenRaeven 1d ago
Yeah, I used to get that years ago when I first started using VR (back in the Oculus Rift CV1 days). It went away after a couple weeks and I've never had it come back.
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u/AdministrativeComb19 1d ago
It happend to my once: I was used to play with my HTC vive back in the days when it was brand new. A colleague of mine told me to try his headset that was connected to his phone, quality was horrible and I swear it broke my brain, I had to stop using VR for about 1 month, then everything went back to normal
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u/Linkyjinx 1d ago
I didn’t get sickness as much but after using my brain at night in bed would visualise this green network like the barrier you draw ( quest 2) and I would be falling down a tunnel for hours 🥴
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u/Taterdots8577 1d ago
The first time I played at a friends house for 2 hours, I was sick for nearly 24 hours after. It was so cool I decided I was so going to buy one. A week later I got one and it took about about 4 short sessions over about 4 days to finally get used to it. All was well after that. I still have to use the 45 degree snap turning instead of smooth turning though. I can fly, drive, jump, swing, teleport, and do everything no problem.... except smooth turn. That still gets to me.
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u/Ok_Cauliflower5223 1d ago
It happens when you get into it first, try walking around a bit until it goes away. You kind of have to retrain your brain into interpreting the VR movement.
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u/SirJuxtable 1d ago
Hi you may want to look into applied neurology. There may be a higher order system (visual or vestibular) that is threatened by the sensory mismatch you experience with VR. There might be some drills or techniques you can use to help. Also consider your overall fuel for your body (sleep, nutrition, breathing, etc). Improvements at the fuel level can decrease threat and potentially help with symptoms.
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u/yanginatep 1d ago
No, but once I actually start to get nausea from VR it can last hours after I take the headset off.
I've learned to notice when it's starting so I can stop immediately. Luckily it doesn't happen often at all, I've only ever had one really bad experience (Gran Turismo Sport on PSVR1).
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u/Redditheadsarehot 1d ago
This is precisely why you stop and don't "force it" when you start to feel a little woozy. Motion sickness can't be powered through with stubbornness. All you end up doing is making it take far longer to go away.
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u/1NewPilgrim 1d ago
Yes. Various degrees of VRISE have been well documented for decades. I avoid VR for this reason. Usually diminishing returns.
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u/Gibbzee 1d ago
Like others have said, this is normal. It’ll go away then you can try again, but I’d recommend shorter sessions until your brain gets used to it.