Motion sickness at VR: that's the reason

Many gamers suffer from motion sickness in VR games. We show you what is behind the so-called VR disease and what you can do about it.

Motion sickness at VR - that's why

Motion sickness is not only available in VR games. Motion sickness can also occur in classic PC games. If the player moves through the game in first-person perspective, the head moves into the position of the character. This is especially the case when the player is very focused on what is happening.

• While the head thinks that its own body is moving through the virtual game world, the body sends out contradictory signals. The body reports that it is sitting and not running through the game world.
• Due to the contradicting signals, many gamers experience nausea after some time. Doctors explain the nausea by the fact that our brain can only explain the signals through a hallucination. Hallucinations mostly occur through poisonous foods such as berries, so our body wants to cleanse the stomach through the nausea.
• With virtual reality, this effect is further enhanced. The user delves deeper into the virtual game world, so that the contradictory signals for the body are even stronger.

VR games: what to do about motion sickness?

Some people are very susceptible to motion sickness, while others have almost no problems. There is no silver bullet against motion sickness, but with the following tricks you can delay the critical time.

• Try to be as constant as possible in the VR world and avoid hectic movements. Always find a fixed point in the picture that you are heading for.
• If the movement of the camera does not match the movement of your character, just close your eyes for a moment. Then concentrate on a fixed point again.
• If you feel uncomfortable, take a break. The earlier you start the break, the sooner you can continue playing. Relax during the break or do other things.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how you can watch films and series on Netflix in VR.