Will Oculus Make Me Dizzy?

In considering whether to buy a Virtual Reality device for our parents, my brother asked a great question: Would mom's dizziness or vertigo be a problem?  

I recently purchased an Oculus Quest 2. My goal is to introduce my baby boomer parents to VR, to help alleviate isolation and boredom due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Dizziness is a good question for VR, especially for someone like my mom or myself who have experienced motion sickness and vertigo in the real world to varying degrees.

But I was not afraid to experiment, especially after hearing from a friend who works in Occupational Therapy who uses Oculus headset with his patients. He recollects only 1 out of about 50 patients reporting dizziness. I would be willing to assume that Oculus apps used in healthcare settings are designed with high comfort for patients. 

Two Most Useful Things I've learned About Dizziness in Oculus VR:

1 - Comfort Ratings for Oculus apps 

2 - VR dizziness might go away with experience

 

1 - Comfort Ratings for Oculus apps

In the Oculus app store, you can find guidelines for enjoying VR without any dizziness, called "Oculus Comfort Ratings." So far I have found apps which are great for beginners. 

Thanks to Oculus Comfort Ratings in the Oculus app store, there is no need to learn what makes you dizzy the hard way. 

https://support.oculus.com/comfort/
 

If you are new to Oculus or VR, start with apps rated "Comfortable" which will help avoid dizziness altogether. My personal favorite "starter" Oculus app is the First Steps app that came pre-installed on my Oculus Quest 2. I disagree with the 'Moderate' comfort rating for First Steps. 

Everyone is different though: I started out slow, but my fiancé played Epic Roller Coasters nonstop his first week using Oculus. 

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3895528293794893
Alcove, AARP's app for Oculus VR

First Steps, my favorite non-dizzy Oculus app for beginners

2 - VR dizziness might go away with experience

I got really happy when I realized this. While watching YouTube videos to figure out what Oculus apps I should download and try, I came across:

"(...) it can take a few days or weeks for your brain to adjust to the conflict between your eyes and your inner ear so that you can enjoy the heck out of it." 
-VR ManCave "O.Q2 Must Have Games to start with | Ultimate top 10 essential VR Games to download list"

He specifically pointed to "smooth locomotion" as the trigger for dizziness. Now that I've been using an Oculus Quest 2 for over a week, I understand what he meant: Certain games allow you to choose between "teleport" and "smooth locomotion." Teleporting is the "least dizzy" option, you jump from one spot to the next. Smooth locomotion, on the other hand, is an attempt to simulate the feeling of movement in real-life. 

The key I found as a beginner is to avoid smooth locomotion. You can usually tell within the first 10 seconds of an app or game whether you are dizzy. If you are, just hit the Oculus Menu (depression on the right controller) to escape back to your Oculus home, where you can select a new app. 

For what it's worth, I noticed that I get very sleepy when I use a dizzying Oculus app. I use this to my advantage when I can't fall asleep. I have also started forcing myself to spend 30-45 seconds every few days in an app which makes me dizzy. Specifically for this purpose I have been using the free (and very dizzying app) Epic Roller Coasters. I have definitely noticed that I can handle it a few seconds longer each time I try. 

This experience is sure giving me hope my brain is beginning to adjust to the conflict between my eyes and my inner ear!

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