Why virtual reality makes a lot of us sick, and what we can do about it.

  • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Even if the sickness issue is solved at some point I just don’t ever see VR become a dominant way to game. There are just too many downsides.

    Story-focussed games can not direct you where to look. You are completely cut off from the world so you can’t e.g. watch a child or elderly relative while you use it or chat with friends while you work using it. Environments need a lot more work for a smaller market share if you can look at them from any angle. Hardware is much more expensive (and always will be) compared to a system that just needs to render a screenful of content at the same quality level. Your UI options are more limited if you want to keep things immersive.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Exactly, and that’s why we don’t have one. Maybe I’ll get one when my kids are a little older, but for now, it’s a lot more fun to experience things together than to have someone completely closed off in a VR world.

      Even if I didn’t have kids, I still probably wouldn’t want it because I’d like to spend that time with my spouse, and looking at an avatar just isn’t the same.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I think the entire line of thinking that you need a first person perspective to be immersed in a game or virtual world is also flawed. As someone who has been on Second Life for more than 16 years now which uses neither VR equipment nor a first person camera 90% of the time I can certainly “feel like I am there” despite all of those factors and in the presence of many other factors that do not exist in RL like teleporting and camming through walls just fine.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Is that ever claimed anywhere? AFAIK, VR has just been marketed as a new way to experience a virtual world, not as the only way to be immersed in a virtual world.

          I think VR would be really cool, but it just doesn’t seem to fit with my lifestyle at this point. And I’m not sure if I would be able to handle it since I and my spouse get motion sick quite easily.

  • slimerancher@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I prefer AR over VR. AR can do tons of things, and you are aware of your surroundings too.

    Though, for gaming, VR makes more sense, but I don’t see it becoming dominant way of playing games any time soon. Maybe when we reach the point of full-body immersion like Matrix, or Sword Art Online.

    • HidingCat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think it’ll be a dominant form really. It’s a more immersive method, but not many games will need that. Even for me that is still thinking about picking one up, I mostly am looking at using it for seated cockpit play.

  • Mononon@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Big range. My main issue is just convenience. I have a PSVR2, and it’s just a pain to use. Like, you really have to dedicate yourself to using it. It has never felt like something you just do spur of the moment. You can’t just sit back and relax.

  • Zeusbottom@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    VR was fine for me until I landed on a planet in Elite: Dangerous. The rover pitching back and forth was way too much. Never again will I put a headset on.

    • xuv@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      There is a comfort mode setting for the ED rover that keeps your view level to the horizon while the rover moves around you.

      • Zeusbottom@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        There is, and it absolutely failed to be a comfort when I tried it after I got sick the first time. The comfort mode functioned, but my brain was done with VR. I could not even use Google Earth VR without getting queasy.

  • XTornado
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    1 year ago

    Does anybody know if it’s the same cause as when on a car? Like I have yet to get into buying VR but I never get nausea on a car looking at phone inside/outside doesn’t matter. Just trying to see if I might be affected.