Oculus VR Working on Simulation Sickness Issues
Honestly, I can't say I felt any kind of "simulation sickness" the two times I experimented with the Oculus Rift HMD during CES 2013 and E3 2013. If anything, it was a task just getting used to the idea that hey, the mouse no longer needs to be used to look around in a virtual environment. Of course, my sessions were somewhat long enough to get a taste of the technology: for those that use VR for long periods of time, simulation sickness can become an issue.
According to Oculus VR's VP of products Nate Mitchell, simulator sickness is the exact opposite of motion sickness. "In motion sickness there's all this motion but you don't visually perceive the walls and ceilings are moving," he told Polygon during GDC Europe 2013. "This is what creates the conflict that makes you dizzy. With simulator sickness it's basically the inverse. These are all the things you want to avoid as game developers."
The trouble with both is that there are differing opinions about where these conditions originate and what solutions can prevent them from occurring. They're largely misunderstood in the medical community, so developers behind virtual reality HMDs like Oculus VR are going to great lengths to research and solve problems related to simulating environments. Unfortunately, VR is still at its earliest of roots – it may be a long time before most symptoms are resolved.
"This is the sort of thing developers like Oculus need to make," he added.
He listed a number of scenarios that contribute to simulation sickness such as changes in altitude like staircases, backwards or quick lateral movement, minimal shifts to the horizon line, and even head bobbing. He added the team is still debating on whether head bobbing actually provides problems. "I'm of the opinion that head bob is not for us, but it needs more research," he said.
Eventually the budding VR industry will see less and less simulator sickness as hardware and software developers come together and create a standard that will keep simulation sickness-causing triggers from appearing. The problem will likely never be completely eliminated, but at least companies like Oculus VR are working to keep our need to puke into the trash can at a minimum.

If you want an example of the disconnect, try this.
As a passenger in a car on a long straight road traveling at highway speed look at the road far ahead through a pair of binoculars. It is disconcerting right away as the road moves toward you slowly in a way that does not match with the speed you are traveling. It is both fascinating and unsettling at the same time.
Take a look at roller coasters. There's a lot of people who love them and a lot of people who don't. Even though it's not one if you get into it enough you will get that near motion sickness. It would be interesting if they make a chair of some sort with the Rift in conjunction to make it feel like a real roller coaster ride like the ones in Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure
I researched this field for a while back in the early 1990s, which eventually
led to my dissertation being partly on the side effects of playing Doom, namely
Part 2 (NB: if any of you ever used the old Doom cheat codes file, most likely it
was the one I wrote when I ran the DHS and the USENET group); see:
http://www.gamers.org/dhs/diss/
I had hoped to do more when I became head sysadmin at a VR research
centre in 2000, but alas I never had the time, even though I ended up
owning plenty of relevant equipment (high-end SGIs, etc.) Ah well.
Anyway, the best work I could find on these issues back in 1994 was
by Dr. Eugenia M. Kolasinksi at the US Army Research Institute (West
Point). See:
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/scivw/kolasinski/
http://www.psychologyforeliteperformance.com/biography.htm
I had a number of conversations with her about sim sickness issues.
It's a very complex area, so many factors involved, great variance
between individuals, as I quickly discovered with my very limited Doom
study, which ideally should have been much larger, but I lacked the
time, though it was still revealing and interesting nonetheless; those of
you here referring to Doom, Descent, etc., have a look, it'll probably
bring back memories! I asked Eugenia recently about her work back
then; she said it's still a decent resource, though much more has been
done since of course, using newer equipment, techniques, etc.
Possible side effects is one of the reasons Nintendo canned the
Virtual Boy. I tried the VB at NOA's HQ on a visit in 1995; the 3D
effect worked rather well IMO (only wireframe gfx though, so I
didn't think it'd be much of a hit), and I had no problems, but I
guess Nintendo decided the wider risks weren't worth the hassle;
rumour has it the $40M VB budget had originally been intended
for an HMD for the N64, canned for similar reasons, but I couldn't
get that confirmed.
Side effects of various kinds will always be a problem for VR technology.
Extended or excessive use, and/or use by those partcularly prone to relevant
effects, is where the problems will lie. My suggestion was the user should
sign a waiver when they buy such equipment, but that might be complicated
I suppose, and perhaps not valid anyway in some nations. Still, worth a try...
In the end, common sense perhaps? Try it & see; if you don't get side effects,
or if they're tolerable with sensible usage, then buy. Otherwise, don't buy. Let
the market decide and let the user bare the usage responsibility.
Ian.
Btw tburns1, I never had a problem with Turok, but your comment is interesting
because it's a good example of variance. Despite the fact that motion sickness
effects from games have never been a problem for me, simulator sickness is a
different ballgame entirely.
to generate was within the Reality Centre I helped run at Salford Uni (large wrap-
around display, about 10' high, very wide field of view, seating for about 20 people,
three 1280x1024 edge-blended projectors). It looked similar to this:
http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/10/41/05/2232685/7/628x471.jpg
http://www.barco.com/projection_systems/images/Shell_Rijswijk1_L.jpg
Viewing a 3D model of a floating island (not unlike that used in the Unigine
Heaven demo in concept, but less detailed), suddenly moving the viewpoint
so that the viewer was taken *underneath* the whole structure was enough
to make most people (including me the controller) feel pretty damn wierd.
I never tried it with the stereo turned on though; I'd already heard from other
staff members that at least one visitor had barfed in the past.
demo I did thankfully)
By complete contrast, the motion-tracked CAVE system produced no issues at
all, and btw, Quake in a CAVE is awesome. 8) (the gun is motion tracked too)
I figured the motion tracking made all the difference.
Ian.