7 Reducing Motion Sickness and Discomfort

You’ve created the first version of your software. The graphics are stunning and the software is responding to every head movement. For the first few minutes, your new test subjects are impressed and smiling but pretty quickly their smiles fade and they start to look a little green. One test subject even pulls off the Rift and asks if there is some place he can go lay down for a bit. You wanted to create an immersive experience that gave the user the feeling they had been transported somewhere else. But instead, they ended up feeling like they had been on a bad trip to nowhere. This reaction was not at all what you expected. You tested the software yourself many times and never had this reaction.  So, what happened? And more importantly, what can you do about it?  As your users graphically demonstrated, motion sickness is one of the biggest challenges to creating a usable, comfortable, and immersive VR environment.

7.1       What do we mean when we say the Rift can cause motion sickness and discomfort?

Head tracking must exactly match what the user is doing

Don't change camera position in an unexpected way

Don’t change the field of view (FOV)

Don’t turn the camera view: Get the user’s attention instead

Don’t simply zoom the camera: Provide context, give the user control, and use a subscreen for the zoomed-in image

Don’t freeze the camera: Use other metaphors to show that the world has stopped

Pay special attention to cutscenes

Use real world speeds

Don’t use head-bob

Limit situations that require back-stepping, side-stepping (strafing), turning around and spinning

Try using “VR Comfort mode” for turning

Use caution when adding flying or other extreme actions

Design to scale

Limit stairs and other uneven surfaces

Don’t change the user’s horizon line

Don’t leave the user floating in a void: Add static reference points whenever possible

Don't add large moving objects that take up the majority of the user's view

Use darker textures

Don’t introduce intentional flickering or use high-contrast flashing

Limit how much the user needs to move their head around

Don’t make the user roll their eyes to see something

Make sure any displayed text is easily readable

Use the profile data gathered by the Oculus Configuration Tool

Correct for Strabismus

Create Avatars for everyone

Encourage users to set and use their user profile

Encourage users to take breaks.

VR experience can be more intense than traditional media

Responsibility to consider the impact of your work

Testing in Extended or Cloned mode