Nausea from Virtual Reality

[jacob]

How/where can I get such VR experiences?

The least expensive headset, as far as I know, is the Oculus Quest 2 (what @Sclass has or had) for $199.
https://www.amazon.com/Oculus-Quest-Adv ... B099VMT8VZ

The easiest way to find and acquire VR titles would likely be on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/

Note that there are at least a couple different competing VR standards. ValveVR (steam) is the oldest? There's also OpenXR. And I guess a bunch of others. I don't know if Apple and Facebook are pursuing their own. It's definitely something to look into. It might not matter at all.

I'm personally exclusively in the Steam ecosystem because it's just so convenient. Nearly everything works "out of the box" (pay and it automagically downloads and installs). However, not everything is on steam. FWIW, Steam also sells its own VR headset.

Maybe this: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3482 ... _Earth_VR/ (it's free, I'll add to my list to try)
For first-person movies, perhaps https://www.oculus.com/vader-immortal/ or https://store.steampowered.com/app/3819 ... _Tatooine/

[Scott 2]

I was able to borrow VR devices from my library. That could be another place to check, if you don't know anyone with a device.

My first introduction was Google cardboard:

https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/

When I did vision therapy for my eye issues, they used a VR headset there. That's the only time I've run into it in the wild. The non VR exercises felt more useful though.

Beyond the novelty, I can't recommend what I've experienced. The superior visual experience doesn't compensate for the discomfort. The first time is the best time.


From what I've seen in tech spaces, the greater interest is augmented reality. Microsoft's hololense has seen some medical and industrial application, for instance.

[jacob]

@J_

Here you go.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1098 ... _is_yours/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1862 ... Castle_VR/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1165 ... ing_in_VR/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1341 ... k_in_Time/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/8614 ... _Eternity/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016 ... _Paradise/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1236 ... wn_of_Art/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/7885 ... ersailles/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/6019 ... oHelsinki/

Apparently the key to finding these on steam is just to google "steam VR experience" rather than trying to find them directly in the steam store search interface.

Or maybe this guy:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/ ... d-Culture/

[J_]

@Jacob and @Sclass

Thank you, I will explore the VR-world.

[Sclass]

If VR renders the experience (at least the interesting sights and sounds of it) common, then traveling for real is merely paying a lot to experience crowds and travel diarrhea.

So it’s nausea or diarrhea?

@J the travel videos I watch of the great pyramids and Rome are on an app in the Meta Quest 2 headset under the YouTube app. You just hit the 360 movies tab and search for tourism videos. I’ve hit a dozen of the most common spots in Europe and Asia. As a kid I wanted to see Angkor Wat and the Borobudur but I think I’ve seen enough of them to cross them off my list forever. Looks like walking around a fancy pile of rocks in hot and humid weather. I have a similar feeling about Rome and Venice after seeing the news clips last summer of hordes of Americans roasting in the sun there while waiting in line.

What was funny is in one of the Angkor Wat videos I was clearly able to spot a prostitute/tour guide with some loser western male. He had a silly look on his face while the guide was caressing him as she showed him the fancy rocks. The lady was doing her best girlfriend imitation and the guy was gobbling it up. I had the feeling they didn’t feel that they were being filmed while standing behind the VR cameraman. Another interesting one was the Romani stalking tourists in Italy. I could clearly see a group setting up to pickpocket an American in the distance. So the VR cam does pick up some unsavory views. You just have to turn around and look behind your tour guide.

It’s interesting. All you have to do is turn around or look down and you see interesting things that were not intended content.

[jacob]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3482 ... _Earth_VR/ is kinda neat. Think google satellite view + street view on steroids. You get hills and depth perception. It's not quite like being there---more like "seeing there"---but it's the next level up from seeing a picture.

In terms of nausea, the adventures continue. I think I've narrowed down the cause to "when the eyes see acceleration that differ significant from acceleration that you feel (generally nothing)". As such moving forward/upward/sideward at speed is not a problem. Even accelerating forward or backward is not a problem. It's the instant lateral (traverse) shifts that get me because no human moves like that. Imagine walking forward and then doing an instant 90 degree to the side. You'd expect to feel a jerk but you don't, so motion sickness obtains. It seems like this should be easily hackable by not allowing those abrupt shifts of direction. This is perhaps why flying induces less motion sickness than racing cars or even walking around in a museum.

One point of annoyance is that there seems to be zero standards for the user interface. Each new program requires a different way of interacting with the world. Worst are those that need you to walk around physically, like "press the red button 2 meters in front of you to open the door". These titles are basically impossible from a seated configuration, because you simply can't get there. Something to keep in mind! My failure rate on titles is about 1/3. This is surprising since I'd expect developers to make titles "wheelchair"-friendly, for lack of a better word. Maybe I just haven't figured it out. My current hack is to go into settings and "recenter" my position by two feet (the range of my office chair), but that gets old real fast!

OTOH, the seated configuration might also add to the motion sickness. With a standing/walking configuration, I'd rely more on head movements and foot movements to get around than the WASD-like wand/controller.

[jacob]

The flight sim sounds like fun. I’ve always wanted to fly but I’m afraid of accidents. I think VR is good in that you can crash all you want. The helicopter rigs look really cool. My friend who worked on the sims at NASA says he can fly most combat helicopters now. He doesn’t even have a basic fixed wing license. There is something cool about that. Someday you may be in a situation where you’re forced to fly.

Experienced DCS player in a real helicopter for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YXnOkXQZfE

[The Old Man]

If VR renders the experience (at least the interesting sights and sounds of it) common, then traveling for real is merely paying a lot to experience crowds and travel diarrhea.

Its the difference between seeing the Superbowl on TV or seeing it in person in the stadium. Being at Times Square on New Years Eve or seeing the ball drop on TV.

VR can bring a facsimile of the experience, but it cannot replace the experience.

[jacob]

Its the difference between seeing the Superbowl on TV or seeing it in person in the stadium. Being at Times Square on New Years Eve or seeing the ball drop on TV.

VR can bring a facsimile of the experience, but it cannot replace the experience.

I've realized that this really depends on one's temperamental perception on the world---what one pays attention to and takes away from a given experience.

For example, for me, it's "observations -> abstractable concept" which I can then play around with in my mind. Whatever part of the observation that is not relevant to the abstraction gets ignored/discarded. This is also why I rarely care to repeat similar experiences. Once they become familiar, they offer nothing to me. In short, my focus when it comes to experiences is how I can generalize those experiences to some concept that I can then think about further.

Whereas, for many, it's "observation -> sensation and/or memories". In that case, being there live offers more sensations and memories than sticking your head into a VR headset. Indeed, those sensations and/or memories are cumulative. Rather than following an S-curve, each experience adds some specialized nuance to the collection.

In my case, I actually find the live experience (of e.g. a football game) to be inferior to the TV experience because I'm more interested in understanding the plays (which are hard to see on the field with eyeballs only) than I am in the "atmosphere" or vibe which I just find distracting. As such, in some cases, the "virtual" experience actually offers a deeper experience [for me] than the "real" experience because it eliminates much of the noise and distraction.

[Sclass]

Experienced DCS player in a real helicopter for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YXnOkXQZfE

Yeah that video says a lot. My pal from NASA has no real flight time. But he claims he has high confidence he can fly most of the military helicopters with the exception of the osprey.

I think I’ve watched too many action films where the hero needs to jump into some unknown aircraft and make an escape. It sounds like a cool skill to have.