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Why then is the HTC Vive Reddit filled with post after post of people having a great time playing games for hours, and very few reports of nausea or sickness? I

Why then is the HTC Vive Reddit filled with post after post of people having a great time playing games for hours, and very few reports of nausea or sickness? I'm not suggesting we ignore health concerns related to VR, but the huge gulf between the anecdotal evidence post-launch and this guys VR sickness apocalypse make me think something is off.

SolarNet 10y ago
Hype, people don't want to up-vote nay-saying (if they even bother to report it), would be my guess (assuming the nausea is actually a serious problem, this would be my explanation).
- Wintamute 10y ago
  I agree, hype could be an explanation, but it seems unlikely. Multiple multinational companies sink many billions of R&D dollars into fundamentally flawed and dangerous consumer technology. Said consumers, not wanting to accept the truth conspire to almost completely suppress any meaningful spread of reports of the flaw. Feels sorta unlikely to me! That's not really how the world works. Surely the simplest explanation is most likely ... that first gen consumer VR is in most cases "good enough", and a significant minority consumers experience some amount of sickness, but not enough to invalidate the industry?
- spb 10y ago
  Here's a video of people using the Vive for two and a half hours with no motion sickness, one of several put out by the developers of Fantastic Contraption, every week: https://www.twitch.tv/colinnorthway/v/61979623 https://www.twitch.tv/colinnorthway/v/61979623 Why on Earth are people in this thread putting so much effort into weighing in with their two cents "assuming nausea is actually a serious problem"? I understand that Hacker News loves playing devil's advocate, but devising theories to explain non-existent phenomena is just being tedious.
rm999 10y ago
People do talk about it a lot; it's often referred to in an optimistic way: "getting your vr legs", instead of a negative manner. That said, the early adopters of VR are self-selecting and probably the least likely to get nausea. I know a few people who are prime candidates for VR (graphics developers, tech nerds, etc) who either sold their devices or refuse to buy one because they know they'll never get over the nausea. I have no real problems with nausea (or motion sickness in general) and I love my Rift. That said, I do get mild headaches if I play it for more than an hour. So yeah, it's a thing.
- theWheez 10y ago
  I am one that is pretty prone to nausea but got into VR. I don't think VR early adopters are necessarily self-selecting as far as nausea goes. Personally, I found different experiences gave me varying degrees of nausea. Games where locomotion was controlled by controller got me sick almost instantly, whereas games where I was sitting (like Elite: Dangerous) did not.

SolarNet 10y ago

Hype, people don't want to up-vote nay-saying (if they even bother to report it), would be my guess (assuming the nausea is actually a serious problem, this would be my explanation).

Wintamute 10y ago
I agree, hype could be an explanation, but it seems unlikely. Multiple multinational companies sink many billions of R&D dollars into fundamentally flawed and dangerous consumer technology. Said consumers, not wanting to accept the truth conspire to almost completely suppress any meaningful spread of reports of the flaw. Feels sorta unlikely to me! That's not really how the world works. Surely the simplest explanation is most likely ... that first gen consumer VR is in most cases "good enough", and a significant minority consumers experience some amount of sickness, but not enough to invalidate the industry?
spb 10y ago
Here's a video of people using the Vive for two and a half hours with no motion sickness, one of several put out by the developers of Fantastic Contraption, every week: https://www.twitch.tv/colinnorthway/v/61979623 https://www.twitch.tv/colinnorthway/v/61979623 Why on Earth are people in this thread putting so much effort into weighing in with their two cents "assuming nausea is actually a serious problem"? I understand that Hacker News loves playing devil's advocate, but devising theories to explain non-existent phenomena is just being tedious.

rm999 10y ago

People do talk about it a lot; it's often referred to in an optimistic way: "getting your vr legs", instead of a negative manner. That said, the early adopters of VR are self-selecting and probably the least likely to get nausea. I know a few people who are prime candidates for VR (graphics developers, tech nerds, etc) who either sold their devices or refuse to buy one because they know they'll never get over the nausea. I have no real problems with nausea (or motion sickness in general) and I love my Rift. That said, I do get mild headaches if I play it for more than an hour. So yeah, it's a thing.

theWheez 10y ago
I am one that is pretty prone to nausea but got into VR. I don't think VR early adopters are necessarily self-selecting as far as nausea goes. Personally, I found different experiences gave me varying degrees of nausea. Games where locomotion was controlled by controller got me sick almost instantly, whereas games where I was sitting (like Elite: Dangerous) did not.