Throughout my years as a game developer (and the many more years as a video game enthusiast), I’ve had the chance to develop and play several virtual reality games. One thing that has always intrigued me, but I’m not too familiar with, is why do most people get motion sickness from certain VR exposures? Despite the many advancements in virtual reality tech, many people, including myself, still experience motion sickness symptoms.
Most common symptoms include eye strain, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, drowsiness, disorientation and general discomfort.
The following information is important to consider:
“Recent advances in HMD (head-mounted display) technology, such as field of view, resolution, framerate, and ergonomic factors, have increased the levels of immersion and realism that may have an influence on the occurrence of VR sickness (Nichols, 1999; Lee et al., 2017; Kourtesis et al., 2019). For example, if an image is clear and tracking of movement is accurate, there may be fewer sensory conflicts, and that could lead to a reduction in VR sickness symptoms (White et al., 2015; Shin et al., 2016; Ray et al., 2018). However, an increase in the field of view may also increase risk of VR sickness (Fernandes and Feiner, 2016).”
“A rollercoaster ride may be more likely to induce VR sickness to the level of severity where users will request to discontinue the experience. For example, almost 67% of participants in a study using a rollercoaster virtual environment were unable to complete an exposure time of 14 min (Nesbitt et al., 2017). In contrast, content consisting of low amounts of motion may be less likely to induce VR sickness (Guna et al., 2019), as well as in cases where head movement in a fixed position is concordant with what the user would experience in the real world (Rizzo and Koenig, 2017).”
“Length of time exposed to a virtual environment may also influence likelihood and severity of VR sickness (Duzmanska et al., 2018). Significant correlations have been found between exposure time and VR sickness, with longer exposure times increasing risk of VR sickness (Stanney et al., 2003). In contrast, a recent review has found that some people may build up a resistance or adapt over time to VR sickness, particularly over multiple sessions (Duzmanska et al., 2018).”
Reference: National Center for Biotechnology Information
This Summer, I plan on creating several VR simulations using either Unity or Unreal Engine (undecided at this time). This project will consist of many different scenes, each with their own environments, aesthetics, and mechanics, that will test the user’s sensory feedback. By the end of this project, I would like to categorize the scenes so that it allows users to choose and test the various VR environments to see which type of VR simulations make them probable to motion sickness. For instance, users will be able to choose from 3 categories of VR simulations (“Low Motion Sickness Possibility”, “Moderate Motion Sickness Possibility”, and “High Motion Sickness Possibility”) to test their sensory feedback in order to help them distinguish a fine line to which VR games they can play and which they should stay away from.
The following video is a VR zombie shooter I helped create about 4 years ago. This game is compatible with Oculus and Vive:
I have also developed experimental remakes of games such as Beat Saber, and Pistol Whip Replica, following Valem’s tutorials on YouTube.
I have made the decision to aim at this problem simply because I have heard so many people say that they don’t play a lot of VR games due to the motion sickness they exhibit while playing. I am also not as familiar with making VR games as I am with making other genres of games and this class wants us to explore things outside of our comfort zone, so… why not! I would like to create something that allows people to become more aware about their limitations in VR and become more knowledgeable about which games they can play and which games they should stay away from to avoid VR motion sickness. I know this project will take a considerable amount of time to develop and I may not be able to complete it all in one class, but it will be able to provide a foundation of research that I can utilize to further develop VR games in the future in order to help limit motion sickness for a person and it will also allow me to become more comfortable and confident at making VR game mechanics.
As for an estimated timeline, I am starting off with VR games that have a high possibility of causing motion sickness and working on implementing those techniques within the next week or so. Then about half way through the quarter I’d like to start working on the types of VR techniques that have a low possibility of causing motion sickness. The hardest part will be finding a medium between the two; Creating a tab for games that have a 50/50 chance of causing motion sickness. My timeline may change, as I tend to complete tasks how I see them in the moment.
Feel free to leave a reply and also feel free to stay up to date by subscribing to this blog 🙂
chancellorpiazza.com 