Survey Shows Women Are More Susceptible to VR Sickness Than Men
(Photo : Survey Shows Women Are More Susceptible to VR Sickness Than Men)

Virtual reality (VR) can make people sick, especially during moments with artificial motion. Nausea, dizziness, and headaches are some of the main symptoms of VR motion sickness.

The majority of VR users have experienced it at one point or another, but the frequency and severity of it differ based on the individual.  

VR Sickness and Gender

A recent survey conducted by VR Heaven (sample size: 292) showed that women are more prone to VR motion sickness than men. 

In the survey, people were asked how often they experienced VR motion sickness. They could answer: never, rarely, sometimes or frequently.

Women answered 'frequently' three times as much as men did: 22.6% vs 7.2%. Whilst men are more likely to answer with 'never' or 'rarely.'

Whilst this is not new phenomena (studies in the past have also found this correlation), it's interesting to see that disparity still exists even when real-life motion sickness susceptibility has been taken into account. 

Some theories suggest that if you're more prone to motion sickness in real life you'll be more prone to VR sickness. And since women are more prone to real-life motion sickness (in cars, planes, boats etc.), they'll be more prone to sickness in VR and that's why this discrepancy exists. However, even when these factors are taken into account, this discrepancy remains, suggesting that VR has something to do with it. 

Some theories to why this is are:

  • IPD mismatch: VR headsets are designed with the male anatomy in mind. Men have wider IPDs than women (the distance between your eyes), so wearing a headset with an oversized IPD can cause motion sickness. There's some pretty clear evidence on this theory.

  • Gaming experience: When 2D first-person shooters came out, people got motion sick. Eventually, people became accustomed to it, but gaming experience can play a factor in VR sickness. First-person shooters train your 'mental rotation' skills which have been shown to impact your susceptibility to motion sickness.

Overcoming VR Sickness

It has been known that by exposing yourself to VR, eventually you'll become accustomed to it and will develop resistance to VR motion sickness. This is known as growing your 'VR legs.'

Not everybody can grow their VR legs. Some people can develop VR legs in days or weeks, whilst others take up to 6 months. A significant amount of people are never able to develop their VR legs.

According to this survey, two-thirds of people (68%) answered that they were able to grow their VR legs over time, but it didn't mention how long that process took. 

Also worth noting is that out of all the people who developed their VR legs, the majority were men. Women were less likely to develop their VR legs for reasons unknown which may or may not be biological.

Regardless, if developers want VR to be more inclusive, a step in the right direction would be to include an IPD adjustment on all headsets. 

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