The lockdown period witnessed a major rise in the number of gamers with the launching of new gaming consoles. This pastime helped many a person deal with isolation due to lockdown, but it also resulted in physical and mental sickness among them. During and after exposure to virtual reality (VR) environments for a prolonged time, users often experience fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and sometimes vomiting followed by weakness. These are the symptoms of cybersickness or simulator sickness as well as motion sickness. These symptoms are felt in varying degrees and differ from person to person.
While the symptoms of cybersickness are similar to those of motion sickness, the difference is that in the former the body remains in a stationary position and the movement is perceived visually whereas in the latter case, the body is also in motion as in travelling. There are different theories regarding what causes cybersickness.
Causes of Cybersickness
Cybersickness is common during or after exposure to video games, often in around 30 minutes into focused game-play, where the movement of players extend to vertical planes. This is common in video games with verticality, which relates to the scale of spaces in any game as well as the ability of the players to navigate them. The feature in games like Assassin’s Creed, for instance, allows a player to take from of hundreds of metres, off a mountain or a cliff’s edge.
Similarly, one often experiences strain in the eyes, and exhaustion, and general discomfort while playing racing games like Need for Speed (NFS) and Asphalt 9. The reason behind this is motion parallax, which refers to a change in the position of an object due to a change in the observer’s position.
Another theory links the cause of cybersickness to sensoryconflict, which refers to the mismatch between visual and vestibular senses. While playing video games, the information received by the eyes does not always relate to what the body experiences in terms of balance and spatial orientation. Discrepancies in simulated motion and the perceived movement could cause cybersickness. However, this theory fails to explain differences in individual experiences.
According to neurologist, Dr Vamsi Chalasani, cybersickness can be caused due to cluster headaches, migraines, and loss of appetite triggered after prolonged exposure to screens with a lot of glare. These games, he adds, include frequent swinging of camera angles and some open-world settings where there is a lot to take in audio-visually; and so, they are overwhelming in nature. This could further anxiety issues in certain cases.
Precautionary Measures
Cybersickness or simulator sickness is a serious concern in VR gaming. Designers of video games have now started focusing on providing higher frame refresh rates in games to reduce the chances of having frame drops that are disturbing to the human eye. With better and smooth-running visuals, it will improve VR gaming experience for users.
At the individual level too, certain precautions can be taken during VR gaming. A proper diet, such as fruits and nuts, frequent breaks in between, proper hydration with water, and adequate sleep could reduce the incidence of cybersickness. Besides, choosing a proper place with enough ventilation and avoiding acid-heavy diet with carbonated drinks also help in staying away from cybersickness.
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