Cyber Sickness

What is Cyber Sickness?

AKA Virtual Reality Sickness or Simulation Sickness

Virtual Reality Sickness (Cyber Sickness) refers to a form of discomfort experienced when stationary users perceive motion in immersive environments, caused by factors like lag, refresh rates, and visual discrepancies that require careful content design to mitigate.

How does Cyber Sickness work?

Unlike traditional motion sickness where physical movement contradicts visual stability, cyber sickness occurs when users remain physically stationary while their visual system processes movement within virtual environments, creating a sensory conflict that can trigger symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to severe nausea and disorientation. Multiple technical factors contribute to this phenomenon, including system latency between head movements and visual updates, insufficient refresh rates below 90Hz, inconsistent frame delivery, and artificial locomotion methods that don't match natural movement patterns.

How is Cyber Sickness avoided?

Cyber Sickness is avoided through contemporary development practices prioritizing content-based solutions through careful implementation of movement mechanics, gradual acceleration curves, stable visual reference points, and comfort settings that allow users to customize their experience according to personal sensitivity levels.

As the industry has matured, responsibility for minimizing cyber sickness has shifted predominantly toward content creators rather than hardware manufacturers, with extensive user testing becoming an essential component of virtual reality development processes.

For organizations implementing VR solutions, addressing these comfort considerations directly impacts user adoption rates, training effectiveness, and the overall success of immersive technology initiatives.