WEBVTT

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- Oh, I can't do virtual reality.

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I'll get sick.

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(deep breathing)

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I tried one of those VR games
once, it made me so nauseated.

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(deep sigh)

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My friend is one of those

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and she showed me a game, I nearly barfed.

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(imitates vomiting)

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(upbeat ambient music)
The single

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most common thing I hear from people

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who are new to virtual reality

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is that they are worried
it will make them sick.

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It's a reasonable concern,

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we've been hearing about
VR being the next big thing

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since the early 1980s, and for decades,

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all the products that
actually made it to market

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weren't that good, so they
made people want to vomit.

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But the fact is that the
new generation of VR gadgets

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has largely solved the
issue of motion sickness.

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They're so real

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that your brain is cool
with what's happening

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and you're not likely to get sick

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unless of course you do something in VR

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that would also make you
nauseous in real life.

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So how can you avoid having
your fun trip to a virtual world

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end up with a visit to Upchuck City?

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First of all, it's important to understand

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why we get sick from
things like VR simulations.

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Motion sickness happens
when your eyes see movement,

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but your inner ear doesn't detect it.

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Why does that happen?

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One theory is that your
body kind of short circuits

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when the vestibular system

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and the visual system don't match,

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it just can't figure out what's
going on and it overloads.

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But another theory says that

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motion sickness is actually a
protection against poisoning,

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that it evolved to protect
human hunter gatherers

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who pick the wrong
mushroom from the forest.

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When you are poisoned and
you start hallucinating,

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your body makes you sick

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and throw up to get rid of that poison.

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Either way, we know the trick
to preventing motion sickness

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is to make sure

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your brain doesn't detect
any intolerable difference

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between what you see and what you do.

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The good news

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is that modern VR units have
largely solved this problem.

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They've reduced the lag that can occur

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when you turn your head
to look at something.

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What used to make people
sick is when they moved

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and then the environment caught
up to them a second later.

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New hardware is so fast that
that lag isn't an issue,

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but there are still some VR experiences

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that have a lot more simulated movements

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than just turning your head

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and those are the ones
that make people sick.

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What should you do about those?

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Well, my first tip is

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if you are prone to motion
sickness in the real world,

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stick to gentle activities
in the virtual world.

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Meta's VR experiences are all
labeled with a comfort rating,

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from comfortable, to moderate, to intense.

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Pay attention to those.

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A comfortable experience will
probably have a fixed camera,

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so you won't feel like you're moving,

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so your inner ear won't get confused.

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In contrast, an intense experience

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like the ones that have
you flying a spaceship

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in three dimensions or
running around at high speed,

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those are going to create a big disparity

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between what you're seeing
and what you're feeling.

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Avoid that until your brain is ready.

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That takes us to tip
two, exposure therapy.

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Motion sickness is
something you can get over

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with experience.

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If you start feeling sick
with a VR app, stop using it.

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Come back to it later
when you feel better,

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repeat until you build your tolerance.

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Even the most sensitive user

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can eventually get to the point
where they can do moderate

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or even extreme experiences with ease.

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Tip three, medicate yourself.

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Some studies have shown
that ginger can help prevent

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or treat motion sickness.

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Keep some ginger candies in your VR space

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or a ginger drink in your fridge,

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it'll make you feel better.

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There are also some medications

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that do wonders for motion sickness.

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Scopolamine is a prescription drug

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that doctors sometimes give to people

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when they're going on cruises

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or other trips that might
cause motion sickness.

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That's not practical
for normal at home use,

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but if you're going to
go to a VR convention

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or pay for some crazy experience,

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well, hey, the medications work.

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But the bottom line is

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find your comfort level and stick to it.

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With time,

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your ability to do more
exciting things in VR will grow.

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Have you got tips for handling
motion sickness in VR?

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Share them in the comments below.

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