New Quest User, I get terrible motion sickness

[Anonymous]

Hi,  I received my Oculus Quest from UPS about a week and a half ago.  This is my first VR headset.  Previously my VR experience was limited.  I played the Vive at West Edmonton Mall once for about 5 minutes a few years ago, and I also played those old Virtuality machines way back in 1992 (Dactyl's Nightmare).  Anyhow, I've been getting my feet wet so to speak playing games like: Beat Saber, Racoon Lagoon, Vader Immortal, and a few others.  I've been enjoying them but I've discovered that I suffer from terrible motion sickness with VR.  I hope I can somehow "get over this".

From the games I've played so far, it seems like I have no problems if a game is a 6dof game in a fixed room with no automatic movement of my own perspective by the game itself.  In other words, things can fly towards me (like in Beat Saber), or I can move my head around rapidly in the environment and have it tracked in space...that gives me no problems as long as any visual display of my own movement/perspective in VR (not other objects coming towards me) is caused by my own physical movement.  The problem is if I play a game where I press a button press or a stick movement causes my own perspective to move (smoothly forward/backward, etc).  Basically I need "teleport" options in games I've discovered.  So that I point to a location and am "there" in a limited spot that doesn't move, and then once I'm there I can control the perspective in the space with my own head and only my own movements (deeking in and out with my own head within that space is fine). 

I've discovered this is why games like Beat Saber I can play no problem and don't get sick.  You're just standing in a fixed rectangle and you can walk around and move your own head within that space, but the environment itself doesn't automatically move or shift.  Games like Racoon Lagoon, or even that ISS (International Space Station) app make me very ill.  I've had to take my headset off twice to throw up already because of it.  I had to take a break from VR a few days ago for a few days because the illness lingered for 2 days, even while I was at work. 

I really want to love VR and play it, but I'm now worried about this.  Does this happen to anyone else?  What can I do to improve the situation? 
  

[Kentobi]

Digikid1 said:

FelicityC said:

Much like seasickness and other motion sicknesses some people are permanently victim to them and will never overcome it without Dramamine or ambien

Sorry but I believe you are incorrect.  You can easily overcome this with what I said before.....time and patience.  Using a Drug is not recommended.  Use Ginger or name brand Gingerale and it will do the exact same thing.

Try not to tell people what their personal experiences are. I’ve had motion sickness my entire life and tried every solution out there for various situations. Yes, ginger works incredibly well, but it’s not a cure all, and you can’t time and patience your way out of it. 

[Circes]

I have had Oculus 2 for about 3 weeks and had no problem playing on a daily basis until this past week.  On Tues morning I woke up with vertigo and nausea.  I had played beat saber (my favorite) the evening before without issue.  So I was basically sick that entire day, had to miss work 1/2 day because of it (I work from home on my computer 40 hrs/week).  The following day the vertigo was not as bad and I was able to work the entire day, wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the day but got better as the hours passed.  The following day on Thurs, I was fine.  Since I had a 4 day weekend, on Thurs evening I played beat saber for about 15 mins.  The next morning the vertigo returned and I felt like crap all day. This really doesn't make much sense to me since the problem is not occuring while I'm using the VR enviroment, but after the fact.  I'm wondering if it could be related to glare.  A couple years ago I got a very mild prescription glasses with the anti-glare coating, which made all the difference in the world.  I had been having a lot of eye fatigue and headaches but once I started wearing those glasses I had no further problems.   I know I can get prescription lenses for Oculus, but I don't even really need the prescription (I'm nearsighted), but I'm wondering if the anti-glare coating could make a difference.  

Anyone had a problem had a problem like this that was solved by getting the prescription lenses?  I would hate to have to stop using VR because of this.  I did get some Dramamine, which helped late the day on Friday when I was still not feeling too good, but not sure I want to use it on a daily basis in order to enjoy the VR experience. ☹️

[Circes]

After posting this I read other posts and I wanted to clarify, I don't get the vertigo while I'm playing.... it seems to be an after-effect the following day.  I read where someone posted about the reliefband 2.0 and yeah, that's expensive.... however not sure that would help in my case since the problem is happening after I use VR, not during play itself.  Also... I've only really played a lot with beat saber, so it doesn't seem to be related to the  type of movement within the VR environment.

[JohanTEAswe]

I can't stand free locomotion with joystics in VR. Teleport and just free 6dof is no problem at all. Don't trust people that tell you it will go away after x hours of training. It might get a bit better but my experience after two years of VR is that some, i.e. I, just can't manage some locomotion styles.

[Blastral]

Have you had any success since?  I'm experiencing the same and hoping you maybe have solutions I have not yet seen.

[JohanTEAswe]

Hi. Nope, sadly no new solutions.

[lukepaterson]

---

@Circes wrote:

I have had Oculus 2 for about 3 weeks and had no problem playing on a daily basis until this past week.  On Tues morning I woke up with vertigo and nausea.  I had played beat saber (my favorite) the evening before without issue.  So I was basically sick that entire day, had to miss work 1/2 day because of it (I work from home on my computer 40 hrs/week).  The following day the vertigo was not as bad and I was able to work the entire day, wasn't feeling great at the beginning of the day but got better as the hours passed.  The following day on Thurs, I was fine.  Since I had a 4 day weekend, on Thurs evening I played beat saber for about 15 mins.  The next morning the vertigo returned and I felt like crap all day. This really doesn't make much sense to me since the problem is not occuring while I'm using the VR enviroment, but after the fact.  I'm wondering if it could be related to glare.  A couple years ago I got a very mild prescription glasses with the anti-glare coating, which made all the difference in the world.  I had been having a lot of eye fatigue and headaches but once I started wearing those glasses I had no further problems.   I know I can get prescription lenses for Oculus, but I don't even really need the prescription (I'm nearsighted), but I'm wondering if the anti-glare coating could make a difference.  

Anyone had a problem had a problem like this that was solved by getting the prescription lenses?  I would hate to have to stop using VR because of this.  I did get some Dramamine, which helped late the day on Friday when I was still not feeling too good, but not sure I want to use it on a daily basis in order to enjoy the VR experience. ☹️

---

This sounds like it's not even related to motion sickness or VR. Maybe check with your doctor? 

[Blastral]

I haven't been playing for weeks but just yesterday felt the same way. Did you feel sick at all the night before (after vr).  I admittedly wasn't aware of motion sicknesses from vr and pushed myself through it way longer than I should have.  I also played in a darker room and couldn't somewhat see light by bottom opening - wondering if that added to it.  

[Griffonaus]

This can be a common issue and most likely it comes down to poor VR game design. There is a lot of research going into this and there are numerous ways to improve your experience, but sadly much of it is down to the game designer.
One thing that you can try is to use a circular mat to stand on in your playing space. This gives you some feedback from the feet which can help. Another is to place a small fan pointed at you. The moving air can often help your brain establish itself in space. You may also need to start off seated first and then after some time move to the full standing environment.
Keep persisting. Many people who suffer motion sickness outside of VR find that after a short period of time they don't have the same issues within VR.  When I began in VR I would often get some minor form of motion sickness, but after many years now I don't have any issues at all.