VR disease

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VR's disease , even virtual reality's disease (Engl. Virtual Reality Sickness) is a form of nausea that occurs with the immersion in a computer-generated environment. It can arise during the VR experience, typically when playing a computer game with VR glasses , but often continues for a while afterwards. Common symptoms are malaise, headache, nausea, tiredness, and apathy. Movement instability and tripping can occur. Vomiting was also observed.

Even if the symptoms are similar, VR sickness differs from seasickness and also from simulator sickness, such as in flight simulators : In the latter, the person is physically in motion and, in addition to the visual, is presented with a physical change. In contrast, VR disease occurs during or after purely visual and acoustic stimulation in virtual space, i.e. without any externally induced movement. Due to the widespread use of VR glasses since 2015, there are more and more cases of discomfort when diving into computer-generated worlds. The research on this is only just beginning.

theory and practice

According to all assumptions, VR disease occurs when the physical self-perception ( proprioception ) deviates from what the visual cortex perceives. The organ of equilibrium interprets this deviation as a fundamental disturbance and creates a physical defensive position. This effect rarely occurs with 2D immersion, for example when playing computer games on a flat screen, but it often occurs when using VR glasses.

The manufacturers of the software for these devices indicate the degree of immersion and thus the probability of occurrence of the VR disease for the respective applications. In order to slowly introduce the inexperienced user to the virtual world, some developers use modes that are reminiscent of tunnel vision, i.e. a restriction of the 360 ​​° space.

VR applications with strong camera movements (e.g. in a first-person shooter or roller coaster game) lead to greater physical irritation than those with a static camera. Camera movements forwards and upwards are less unsettling than drives backwards and downwards.

According to initial studies, more than half of VR users have experienced discomfort when using VR glasses. Whether this phenomenon occurs differently between the sexes is currently still controversial, with indicators suggesting that men are less sensitive to VR nausea than women. Children suffer more than adults. The effects may not decrease until hours after the end of the VR experience. Nothing is known about lasting damage. The manufacturers advise moderate use (typically less than half an hour per day) and point out that there is a habituation effect: those who slowly become familiar with the VR world will have to struggle less with VR disease.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Wesley Fenlon: The Promise and Challenges of Head-Mounted Virtual Reality Displays , tested.com , April 2, 2013, accessed August 19, 2016
  2. ^ BD Lawson: Motion sickness symptomatology and origins. Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications, 2014, pp. 531-599
  3. Andreas Sieß, Sandra Beuck, Matthias Wölfel: Virtual Reality - Quo Vadis? How to Address the Complete Audience of an Emerging Technology (Full Paper) . September 22, 2017 ( researchgate.net [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  4. Andre Garcia, Carryl Baldwin, Matt Dworsky: Gender Differences in Simulator Sickness in Fixed- versus Rotating-Base Driving Simulator . In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting . tape 54 , no. September 19 , 2010, ISSN  1541-9312 , p. 1551–1555 , doi : 10.1177 / 154193121005401941 ( sagepub.com [accessed August 15, 2018]).
  5. Malte Klüver, Carolin Herrigel, Stephanie Preuß, Hans-Peter Schoener, Heiko Hecht: Comparing the Incidence of Simulator Sickness in Five Different Driving Simulators . September 18, 2015 ( researchgate.net [accessed August 15, 2018]).