Can I "train my brain" to avoid motion sickness ?

[Medoragent]

I don't really know how to phrase this, but I was wondering if it's possible to train your brain to gradually reduce motion sickness. I'd really like to enjoy games like Farpoint, Sairento, or The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners, but I can't play these games for more than 15 minutes without feeling the effects of motion sickness.

So I was wondering if those who are used to it have found methods to lessen the effects, or if certain games can help me get used to it without feeling the effects?

For exemple I noticed I had no problem playing a lot of Gun Club VR.

 

Any recommendation or advice is welcome.

[CecieAngel]

I would say it is possible to get used to it. I play VR games for a few years now and can definitly see a progress or learning curve my brain has made.

I remember playing games in the past which leads to motion sickness very fast but nowadays I don't have these problems anymore and I can say I'm a very sensitive person. (for example I can't read while sitting in a driving car cause the sickness kicks in very very fast)

It is a matter of training and how used your brain gets to the situation. At the beginning I would suggest to play games with a stationary position like beat saber or Dino Frontier. It's good to make your brain believe you see a realistic surrounding. It helps when you play games which have fixed points in game and when you move your head araound you see those points from different angles just like it would be in real life.

If you want to try games with movement I would highly suggest games where you move through teleporting (far point, skyrim, TWD Saints&sinners). In these games you can often change the settings between teleporting and free movement. In those games the camera rotation is another important point. I personally prefer a smooth rotation much over a "fixed" rotation where the camera rotate like 20° at once. This gave me very much motion sickness, especially when I have to turn around and have to make several fixed rotation in succsession.

In the next step you might feel a bit trained and want to try out free movement over teleportation. I found it helpful to "pretend" to walk. Meaning I move my hips slowly from left to right to make my brain think "oh! walking movement! then everything should be fine." Same goes with riding a horse in Skyrim - I imitate a movement and this sounds stupid (and I probably look stupid while doing this) it really helped me to get used to it.

When I play games with free movement I don't need to do walking movements. When playing "rollercoaster" games, like The American Dream or Pistol Whip I still do little steps with my heels just because it makes me more comfortable.

In addition I would recommend to not walk sideways. Better turn to the side and walk straight forward.

Next advise I can give: don't start with games which rush you. So don't start with far point or the walking dead. They are very good and fun games I really enjoiyed but when training your brain it's just hinderung when aliens or zombies wants to kill you. Take your time, play a more relaxed or cozy game like the playroom, Job simulator or Dino Frontier.

The last part are some general ideas on how to deal with motion sickness.

- try out if standing or sitting makes you feel more comfortable. Some games are played better standing, other better sitting.

- do little breaks to recover from motion sickness. MS is no reason to stop a game session. It might come quickly but will go quickly, too.

- stay hydrated

- ensure you open a window so your brain gets fresh air

- make sure the camera can track the VR correctly. PSVR -> keep your room dark so the lights can be tracked. PSVR2 -> keep your room well lighted so the camera can track your environment and the controllers correctly. When something hinders the tracking your POV can hover around and this will lead to motion sickness very fast

 

I hope this helps you and you can have more fun with your VR!

[Medoragent]

I'll try some of the advices you gave and I added to my wishlist Job Simulator and Dino Frontier.

 

If anyone else got other advices and/or games to get used to the PSVR.

 

Also, I don't know if this information could help but I'm wearing glasses.

[ValkerianCreator]

In short: yes, you can train your brain or yourself to become fully resistant to the "desynchronized-movement" nausea (motion sickness), but it takes time, depending on the person and the severity of it. This is similar to getting over motion sickness in cars, buses, or airplanes. If you start using those a lot, it starts to go away (you become more and more resistant), until it's over and you can continue using the cars, planes, or buses daily without problems. However, before that happens, it can take months and plenty of times of having to stop (if you kept going for longer than you should, despite the beginning symptoms of feeling as if you will vomit). Just like motion sickness in cars, people who have it don't get over it in 1 week, or even in 1 month, but, if they have to use cars daily it will be gone for sure in less than one year. The same happens with the motion sickness with VR games.

 

That was the short answer, now here comes the long one; get ready for an essay, lol 😁:

 

On early 2019, when I got started with Psvr1 and VR gaming, I was one of those people who had to quit games, including Farpoint, the Scavenger Odyssey (one of the short games in Playstation VR Worlds), and Skyrim VR, because they made me feel like I was going to vomit within 1 hour. It was pretty bad and annoying because it didn't stop by just switching to another game or quitting the session. Typically, after the motion sickness feeling was "triggered," it would take 3 or 4 additional hours for it to go away; so your session and beyond were ruined on the spot. Obviously, I had to take a drastic decision, which was quitting the games that gave me more motion sickness and only playing the others. That solved it, but it really wasn't the best way to truly "solve it" in the long-term. The reason for that is that your resistance over motion sickness in VR will not build up as fast if you only play games that give you 5% of it (or none at all). It is wise to eliminate the ones that give you too much of it at first, so that you can also enjoy the VR gaming, but it is a good idea to play some that give, let's say 30% of the motion sickness instead of 80%, and play those for no more than 50 minutes at a time (or per day) to start building real resistance faster.

 

What happened to me is that it took me a very long time to get over the motion sickness (years in fact) because I completely eliminated the games that caused more of it and focused on the ones that barely gave any of that at all. I am certain that even the ones that seem like they give zero motion sickness probably give you 1% or 3%,  and therefore, they do help a little bit to get better for that. And that explains why I could take Farpoint and Borderlands 2 VR beyond 1 hour at a time, when I returned to them, one or two years after my beginning of VR in 2019. So, I could last a lot longer, but I was still getting the "I am going to vomit" feeling around the 1 hour and 20 minutes mark, which was almost twice longer than before. The "problem" wasn't gone, but I got better, and that was without even playing anything like Farpoint (or something halfway there, in terms of the motion-sickness jazz). So, that means that everything helped a little, even the games with less movement in them.

 

I am going to give more tips here (including naming games that give "different levels" of the nausea, or none at all), but by now you should already see what the better solution is for the problem. The better way to do it is playing those that give SOME of the motion sickness, but not too much of it. Playing those very frequently (perhaps, even daily) is the way to get over it, without feeling half-sick all the time. Then, you can finally replace those with the likes of Farpoint and Skyrim. However, get used to teleportation-based movement and turning by 45 degrees, whenever those options are available in the settings. Smooth turning is the worst producer of motion sickness in VR, and the second is probably smooth walking--especially when it is combined with the smooth turning. There is no walking or turning around in games like Beat Saber and Pistol Whip, and that is why they typically don't give any motion sickness to anyone. Part of the reason why Skyrim was an absolute killer for me at the beginning was that I turned on smooth turning and walking for it. You are going to have to give those up, until you have the motion sickness halfway conquered at least.

 

Now, I am going to mention the one that I think that really helped me the most to double or even triple my resistance to the motion sickness: TO THE TOP. This game was the perfect center for that stuff. It would give a lot more "motion sickness sensations incoming" than ALL the more calm games put together, but, at the same time, it would take three times as long as Farpoint or Scavenger's Odyssey for things to get bad. Therefore, To the Top was the right one for me to "build up resistance," while also playing for at least 1 hour at a time without getting sick.

 

Last time I returned to Farpoint (probably one year ago), I played for 2 hours nonstop, and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was before. In fact, I stopped, not because of any motion sickness, but because I didn't know there was a "running button" (R3 for God's sake!) on the aim controller, so I was getting destroyed by the larger swarms of spiders (right before the boss battle). Perhaps, this posting will FINALLY motivate me to go back and beat Farpoint already. It's kind of like overdue for me at this point (like 4 years overdue, lol). 

 

Now, I am going to give some quick short lists of motion-sickness levels in various VR games, based on my experiences, and which ones I recommend as "builders for resistance":

 

Approximate levels of virtual motion sickness:

 

Nearly NO motion sickness at all [highly recommended for VR beginners who are experiencing high motion sickness]

VR rhythm games: Beat Saber, Dance Collider (my favorite!), Synth Riders, Audica, OhShape, Pistol Whip

Others: Electronauts, SuperHyperCube, BoxVR, Puzzling Places, Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, Tumble VR (highly recommended! most realistic physics on the psvr1 and it's just $10), Tripp, Tetris Effect

 

Less than 9%

Astro Bot Rescue Mission [top 5 psvr1 game material], Fujii, The Playroom VR [free download!], Moss, Moss book 2 [top 5 psvr1 game material], Racket Fury Table Tennis, Fisherman's Tale, Shooty Fruity, Everybody's Golf VR, Holoball

 

10%-20%

Sprint Vector (I don't know what sorcery they did here, but this is one of the most active and fast-paced psvr1 games, yet it produces VERY LITTLE motion sickness, considering how much movement there is going on in this game), Time Carnage, Form, Chromagun VR

 

21%-30%

Raw Data, Eagle flight, Pirate flight [free download!], Red Matter, Rush VR (this might jump to the next category, depending on what locomotion style you select)

 

31%-50%

To the Top; Rigs Mechanized Combat League (move your mech's rifles using the sticks instead of using the headset; if you use the headset for that, then, this would go to the next category with Farpoint); Iron Man VR; Sairento; Time Machine VR; Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

 

51%-70%

Farpoint, Skyrim VR, Freediver Triton down, Golem

 

More than 70%

Any game with smooth turning and smooth walking turned on; the Scavenger's Odyssey in Playstation VR Worlds (this was the worst one for me, if you don't feel anything with this after 1 hour, you don't have the motion sickness issue); Detached (I haven't played this yet, but from what I have read, even the vr experts say that this one produces motion sickness, and that makes perfect sense if it was done right, because it's supposed to be an astronaut zero-gravity space-movement simulator)

 

Recommended to build resistance:

Early on, from the beginning: Astro Bot, Sprint Vector

After a few weeks of VR gaming: To the Top, Rigs Mechanized Combat League, Rush VR (use headset locomotion to enjoy this more)

 

Edited May 24 by ValkerianCreator

[Prometheous101]

On 5/23/2024 at 11:50 AM, Medoragent said:

I don't really know how to phrase this, but I was wondering if it's possible to train your brain to gradually reduce motion sickness. I'd really like to enjoy games like Farpoint, Sairento, or The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners, but I can't play these games for more than 15 minutes without feeling the effects of motion sickness.

So I was wondering if those who are used to it have found methods to lessen the effects, or if certain games can help me get used to it without feeling the effects?

For exemple I noticed I had no problem playing a lot of Gun Club VR.

 

Any recommendation or advice is welcome.

Yes. My 1st VR experience at home was playing Doom VFR and that made me so sick I had to run to puke/through up in the toilet.

Now I am in the top 20 on the global VR leaderboard here on Psnprofiles with 150 100%-ed VR games.

Just keep playing, 15 minute sessions, every few days. Like twice a week ir something.

Try and mostly play games with no movement such as Job Simulator in which the games moves around you.

Do research about games and buy games based on how much movement it has.

USE TELEPORTATION if the game requires movement.

BUT THE PS MOVE CONTROLLERS, PLAYING WITH THE DUALSHOCK 4 IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO AS A VR BEGGINNER.

 

And I mean, don't give up after the 1st slightly uncomfortable experience, it really does get better.

Motion Sickness is caused when your brain sees movement,but doesn't feel it.

 

Your brain thinks you were poisoned and is trying to get rid of the poison.

Once your brain figures out that it's a game you will be able to play anything just fine.

Edited May 25 by Prometheous101

[BlindMango]

I've never gotten motion sickness in real life with anything, however playing certain VR games was the first time I experienced motion sickness. Mainly with games where the movement doesn't match up with what I'm doing in real life such as walking forward in Horizon Call of the Mountain when in reality I'm running in place. There's also Gran Turismo 7 which I surprisingly get motion sick at sometimes because I guess the car is moving in-game while in reality I'm not. When I originally started playing those games I could only play them for a short time before I just felt odd and had to take a break, but now I could handle it for longer, though I'm not completely immune to it still.

 

For games that match your movement 100% such as Beat Saber, Job Simulator, and Moss Book I & II, I can play them for hours with 0 issues. Even games where you move by "teleporting" such as Vacation Simulator and Walkabout Mini Golf I have no issues with either. Walkabout Mini Golf is kind of interesting though because there's an (entirely optional) feature in game where you could point towards the sky and start flying and that instantly messes me up more than any other game lol

 

So yeah I think it can be learned, but in my opinion most of the best VR games are ones that match your movement 100% as they usually utilize the technology in a more creative way rather than just aimlessly wandering around

[Medoragent]

Thanks a lot to you all for the advices !

Now all is left to do is to follow these to train my brain and be able to enjoy the most of the VR 😁

[Property_Damage]

Some games really messed me up and made me ‘motion sick’, i almost threw up a couple times adjusting to it

Its probably why i stopped using my VR2

plus im too tired to wanna game and stand up most days

sure you can sit and play

but youre just gonna whack your chair or something

just  play in short spurts and turn it off

thats what i started to do if i felt sick

20 hours ago, BlindMango said:

I've never gotten motion sickness in real life with anything, however playing certain VR games was the first time I experienced motion sickness. Mainly with games where the movement doesn't match up with what I'm doing in real life such as walking forward in Horizon Call of the Mountain when in reality I'm running in place. There's also Gran Turismo 7 which I surprisingly get motion sick at sometimes because I guess the car is moving in-game while in reality I'm not. When I originally started playing those games I could only play them for a short time before I just felt odd and had to take a break, but now I could handle it for longer, though I'm not completely immune to it still.

 

For games that match your movement 100% such as Beat Saber, Job Simulator, and Moss Book I & II, I can play them for hours with 0 issues. Even games where you move by "teleporting" such as Vacation Simulator and Walkabout Mini Golf I have no issues with either. Walkabout Mini Golf is kind of interesting though because there's an (entirely optional) feature in game where you could point towards the sky and start flying and that instantly messes me up more than any other game lol

 

So yeah I think it can be learned, but in my opinion most of the best VR games are ones that match your movement 100% as they usually utilize the technology in a more creative way rather than just aimlessly wandering around

Teleporting around in Walkabout Mini Golf disoriented me so many times, i almost fell over standing on my own two feet because teleporting to a cliffs edge told my brain ‘watch out youre going to fall off’

its amazing what the brain processes and what you know to be real

Edited May 27 by Property_Damage

[Beliar4]

Same with me. My first Vr game experience was Robinson Journey. And played it for over and hour. That alone made rest of my day a total nightmare with worst headache I got in my entire life. But next session ive try to play 10-15 minutes, 20-30 and soon after I could sit in Driveclub Vr for up to 2 hours without any side effects.

[Mr_Bandicoot93]

I almost feel sick every day anyway VR or not so I don’t make a difference lol and I don’t. care anymore. There was only one game where I really need a break from VR because of sickness and my stomach started to hurt. Scavengers Odysee from PlayStation VR Worlds and maybe gran turismo 7 but that was my own fault I drove to a wall and my car started to turn like 10times in 3 seconds.