VR headsets are known to cause motion sickness and dizziness, preventing even enthusiasts from spending hours on the devices (that on top of their not-super-great batteries). VR hardware developers are aware of this issue and are coming up with strategies to prevent this from happening. Here’s a breakdown of some strategies you might hear about:
Asynchronous Reprojection
Asynchronous reprojection is a technique that helps to reduce latency in VR by generating a new frame on the fly when the system is unable to render a new frame fast enough. This technique helps to make the VR experience smoother and more natural, which can reduce motion sickness and dizziness.
Foveated Rendering
Foveated rendering is a technique that reduces the workload on the graphics card by rendering only the area of the screen where the user is looking in high detail, while reducing the level of detail in peripheral areas. This technique helps to reduce eye strain and fatigue, which can contribute to motion sickness and dizziness.
Motion Smoothing
Motion smoothing is a technique that generates intermediate frames between existing frames to reduce judder and improve the smoothness of motion. This technique helps to reduce motion sickness and dizziness by making the experience more natural and less jarring.
Anti-Aliasing
Anti-aliasing is a technique that reduces jagged edges in VR images, which can reduce eye strain and fatigue, which can contribute to motion sickness and dizziness. This technique helps to make the VR experience more comfortable and less tiring.
Low Persistence Displays
Low persistence displays are a type of display used in VR that helps to reduce motion blur and improve the clarity of VR images. These displays turn off the image on the screen for a brief moment to reduce the persistence of the image, which helps to reduce motion blur and improve the clarity of VR images. This technique helps to reduce eye strain and fatigue, which can contribute to motion sickness and dizziness.
Finally (and obviously): Comfortable Headsets
VR companies are continually aiming for more comfortable headsets that distribute weight evenly and are adjustable to reduce dizziness and discomfort. Thinner, more evenly weighted headsets makes all the difference.