If you’ve experienced virtual reality then you may have also experienced feeling nauseous from virtual reality. As VR has changed and improved, so have some of the side effects, such as nausea. But there are still situations in which VR can make people nauseous.
Technology changes a lot faster than human evolution changes our bodies and our perceptions. Not everyone gets nauseous from virtual reality, but there are still people and situations that can trigger nausea. The main reason for this “VR sickness” is sensory conflict.
If the VR experience implies that your body is moving through space in a certain way, but in actuality you aren’t moving that way, then there is a sensory conflict. Your ears and eyes are sending information that you are moving, but your vestibular system is sending information that says you are NOT moving that way.
Built into our biology and psychology is a history of poisons. If you ingest, for example, poisonous mushrooms your body will experience sensory conflict. Our bodies have learned that sensory conflict means danger, and likely means something dangerous was ingested. As a result we feel nauseous so that we will rid ourselves of the poison.
Takeaways
- As VR technology improves the likelihood of sensory conflict will diminish and the problems of VR sickness will improve. Until the VR technology improves, however, you should assume that some people, some of the time, may experience VR nausea.
- If your product is using VR technology make sure you are using the latest generation of calibrated optics.