Oculus Finds A Fix For "Simulation Sickness"

[IanDavis]

Oculus Finds A Fix For "Simulation Sickness"

Oculus Rift's CEO talks about how to avoid puking with VR goggles on.

Every new stage of immersive entertainment has various issues to overcome. While 2D games are pretty simple to process, 3D graphics, especially in first-person, take some exposure to get used to. The body can often react violently when what it sees and what it feels don't match up. VR tech, like the Oculus Rift, has the potential to really mess with the mind in whole new ways. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe admits that even he gets sick strapping the goggles to his head, something they call "simulation sickness", but they think they [a href=http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/17/4850272/oculus-ceo-gets-sick-from-vr-but-says-hes-found-the-remedy]know how to fix it[/a].

"I've gotten sick every time I've tried it. Every time until recently," Iribe said at the Gaming Insider's conference in San Francisco. "In the last few weeks, I stayed in it for 45 minute sessions and I did not get sick with the new prototype. We are at the edge of bringing you no motion sickness content."

The remedy involves overcoming a host of hardware challenges. Resolution, latency, persistence, field of view, and judder all play a part in making sure you keep your lunch down.

Iribe thinks that overcoming that hurdle isn't just important for Oculus, but for the entire medium. In his talk, he compared it to John Carmack's original Doom engine. It wasn't perfect, but it was an important leap forward for 3D engine technology. The comparison's particularly interesting, as Carmack's now [a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126644-John-Carmack-Becomes-Oculus-VR-CTO-UPDATED]working full-time[/a] at Oculus.

Once simulation sickness gets ironed out, Iribe predicts that the Oculus Rift could be used as a general-purpose "IMAX viewer", not just a gimmick. "This is day zero. We are at the very beginning of VR," Iribe said. "This is the future of gaming as we see it.

Source: [a href=http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/17/4850272/oculus-ceo-gets-sick-from-vr-but-says-hes-found-the-remedy]Polygon[/a]

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[InvaderTim]

This is good news.
I had a five minute demo of the oculus at an expo the other week and while I was fine with it my friend had to sit down for a while immediately after due to nausea. Glad it's been worked on.

 

[J Tyran]

Its surprising to see that nausea surprised them, funny how they are trying to stick a new label on it when its simply motion sickness. Its a well documented medical fact if there is a disconnect between what the body feels and the other senses perceive the inevitable result for some people is chundering.

 

[frizzlebyte]

This is good news.
I had a five minute demo of the oculus at an expo the other week and while I was fine with it my friend had to sit down for a while immediately after due to nausea. Glad it's been worked on.

Not to mention the fact that people like myself can't play FPS games due to simulator sickness. It's always been obvious to me that VR is the answer to it, but if not done right, of course, it can instead make it worse.

If they've really solved the issue, then this is the Holy Grail of gaming found at last.

 

[Oskuro]

As long as there's an Occulus-less option for people who can't stand it or just plainly don't like it, it'll be fine.

Here's hoping for awesomeness.

 

[Smooth Operator]

By god a developer that acknowledges their problems, is the apocalypse upon us?
I'm glad they understand the remaining problems because even the tiny group of people who got dev kits are already professing it's perfection and blindly denying faults.

 

[Findlebob]

you'd think they would have learnt a few lessons when they tried the exact same thing 1995 with the Nintendo virtual boy.

 

[Petromir]

I've heard a few reports that the fancy moving seats that some cinemas are fitting can reduce the motion sickness some get from certain types of film. That there is movement that connects with the motion can be enough to keep the brain on the straight and narrow.

 

[Me55enger]

Could the Future of gaming as we see it hurry up?

It's good these thigns are being ironed out. It implies a level of dedication beyond that of a gimmick, aye.

 

[michael87cn]

But does it HAVE to be in 3D? Some people are born with bad eye sight, and unfortunately cannot view 3D without immediate pain and dizziness.

I love my 3DS but I have to use it in 2D, because the 3D really hurts my eyes when viewed through my glasses.

I do not think this is the future of gaming, and I actually do not think VR will ever exist. It's a pipe dream like flying cars and cybernetic implants. It will cost too much for the common man and that's why it DOESN'T exist.

Because with enough money anything CAN exist.... but not for everyone.

 

[Dragonbums]

While I'm really glad they fixed that up, one must ask- this should've of been the VERY FIRST THING to fix. The very first. It's not simulation sickness, it's motion sickness and that should of come before you start asking devs for any sort of games to come in.

Not something regulated to second priority. Also, the most people have used of the OR is 5-10 minute demos at various conventions and expos.

Some people could handle it at the 5 minute mark. But most people don't game for 5 minutes. They often game for 30 minutes- and hour, how are they going to handle it then?

I'm really wondering if they are taking any pointers from the Virtual Boy at all? Because the OR has a lot more than motion sickness to deal with- though it definitely can be one of it's biggest weaknesses

 

[Stupidity]

Great that they have made headway on this problem. Weird though that they never mentioned it before in any of the articles ive read. Motion sickness seems like the kind of thing someone would have mentioned.

I actually do not think VR will ever exist. It's a pipe dream like flying cars and cybernetic implants. It will cost too much for the common man and that's why it DOESN'T exist.

Because with enough money anything CAN exist.... but not for everyone.

I applaud you for considering Economics but would disagree with you. While Im not sure how useful VR will become, even if too costly for the average man (Not sure why when the average man seems to have a HD tv) it could follow the Arcade/Theater model of renting.

Mentioning cybernetic implants seems out of place in your post (did you mean like a smartphone chip in your head?), as they already exist and are economical in their very limited markets (medicine). As they become more useful, smaller and cheaper (Moor's law)(Economies of scale and new fabrication techniques) they can only get more popular.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I remember hearing stories of basic 3d games like Mario 64 making people sick. I can only imagine that feeling is amplified with the Oculus. Hears hoping their fix holds true for most people that want to enjoy it.

 

[Baldr]

It was weird, I get motion sickness on a lot of games, but when I tried the Oculus rift, there was nothing. However they may have been the fact it hurt like hell to wear.

 

[medv4380]

They're Idiots. It's like the fools in the Movie Industry that thought that 48 fps would fix the 3D motion sickness with The Hobbit. It might work for some as a placebo. Anyone who claims to have a solution to the "issue" is ether an idiot for not doing a proper scientific sample to prove their point, or is an idiot for not selling it to Hollywood for billions.

What seems to work for a few will probably just make it worse for others. Fixing Resolution, latency, persistence, field of view, and judder doesn't actually fix the cause. It's caused by your eyes saying your moving, and your ears, and body, saying your not. That basic contradiction is the CAUSE of motion sickness, but in reverse of the normal cause which is your ears saying your moving and your eyes saying your not. It's not "simulation" sickness it's motion sickness, and it's cause is well documented if they'd bother to actually read up on it.

 

[lostlevel]

This is good news.
I had a five minute demo of the oculus at an expo the other week and while I was fine with it my friend had to sit down for a while immediately after due to nausea. Glad it's been worked on.

Not to mention the fact that people like myself can't play FPS games due to simulator sickness. It's always been obvious to me that VR is the answer to it, but if not done right, of course, it can instead make it worse.

If they've really solved the issue, then this is the Holy Grail of gaming found at last.

It was weird, I get motion sickness on a lot of games, but when I tried the Oculus rift, there was nothing. However they may have been the fact it hurt like hell to wear.

I'm relieved to find I'm not the only one, although I never thought it was just me no one else I know personally has had the same issue as me. It seems to depend a lot on the game engine and how it handles the camera. Oddly I can play most shooters but can't watch other people play.

I attempted to play a demo of the Stanley Parable, I got through it but felt dizzy for a couple of hours.

I've missed out on quite a lot of decent games as a result so I wouldn't mind fix but I'm not sure if the Oculus Rift would be a solution. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to try before I buy.

 

[GoaThief]

So what is the remedy exactly? All I see is marketing blurb.

I do not get motion sickness with any normal game however I have experienced it once whilst using Kinect for head tracking with Forza 4. I've used other head tracking devices on the PC and had no problems, however the latency with Kinect really threw a curveball and I just wasn't able to continue lest I chundered all over the floor.

I frequently hear of latency issues with OR, if it is that bad I don't think I will be able to use it. As said above, I'm really not prone to motion sickness so I'd imagine there's a hell of a lot of people out there who won't be able to use it at all if these issues aren't addressed.