Sickness and headache?

_bryan · Jul 14, 2020

Hello folks,

Does anybody get sick playing with VR? What about headaches?

I played for the first time today. It works okay but I felt myself getting dizzy so I took a break.

Now that I stopped I feel sick and I'm getting a little headache. Not too bad but it feels weird, like I've been spinning in circles.

Anyway, I guess it will go away.

Bryan

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

Hi,

I think about 80% of people get nausea to a greater or lesser degree when first using VR. A lucky 20% (which I'm not part of, unfortunately) are OK.

Most people can get over it but it can take time, and it's well worth investing that time because VR is AMAZING.
Don't give up too soon.

The best thing to do if you start feeling sick , queasy or dizzy is to stop playing and remove the headset.
DO NOT try to force yourself through it, as it will just make things worse.
Give it several hours or even a day before using the headset again, and again stop when you feel adverse effects.
Rinse and repeat.
You will find that each session will gradually last longer than the last, until you eventually can use your headset for long periods without problems.
Each individual will take their own time to achieve this of course.

The headache thing may be part of the nausea effect, but it could also be caused if you haven't set your IPD correctly. That would be like wearing spectacles that were not prescribed for you.
So check your IPD setting on your headset.

One last point. Driving the SRV on a planet is a well known puke inducer, even for experienced VR players. Maybe best to avoid using your SRV until you gain your "VR legs".

_bryan · Jul 14, 2020

What does IPD mean?

I do think the headache is directly caused by being forced to tighten that little on the back of my head. If I don't do that then my eyepoint does not align properly with the goggles. In other words, my eye point has to be in an exact certain spot or else everything is blurry.

_bryan · Jul 14, 2020

I am doing some google searching and I guess the IPD is that thing that makes the lenses come close together. I did accidentally mess with that but then I left it alone.

So I will try and adjust that again. I moved it by accident just trying to figure out where the power button was located.

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

IPD is the distance between the pupils of your eyes (I think it is Inter Pupil Distance but the Pupil bit may be more medical sounding.

Your headset should have an adjustment wheel or slider for you to set it to your own IPD, but sometimes a bit more or less is required. Trial and error.

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

An optician can give you an accurate IPD, but you can do it yourself with a ruler and standing in front of a mirror.
Your own measurement will probably be slightly out as it's difficult to keep your eyes fixed while trying to read the ruler, but it would give you a rough starting point and then some trial and error to fine tune it.

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

Yes, it's the thing that moves the lenses. IPD adjuster.

Not sure about your headset, but on my Pimax 8K when I move the IPD wheel the distance (eg 64.2 mm) comes up on the screen for a few seconds.

_bryan · Jul 14, 2020

So after this discussion I went back in and everything was cross-eyed. So I decided to mess with the IPD, and I got it to a point where nothing was cross-eyed anymore and I could see everything pretty clearly.

That IPD thing helped quite a bit, I ended up playing for about 2 more hours and I don't feel like I have a headache now.

Now the bug is the game is not loading my "aussie droid" key bindings but I found a log file that says it couldn't find my joystick. I will play with that tomorrow.

[VR] Orodruin · Jul 14, 2020

CobraCommander said:
IPD is the distance between the pupils of your eyes (I think it is Inter Pupil Distance but the Pupil bit may be more medical sounding.

Interpupillary distance. (Just for the record.)

The way to measure it yourself involves a ruler and a mirror. Stand close to and right in front of a mirror and put the ruler up horizontally against the mirror. Close your right eye and line up the mirror image of your left pupil with the 0 of the scale. Without moving your head, open your right eye and close your left. You can now read off your IPD based on the position of the mirror image of your right pupil on the scale. You will likely not be super precise, but it should give you a general feeling for more or less where you are.

Alternatively you can put the ruler right in front of your nose with the scale facing the mirror. That way you can get rid of any motion of the ruler relative to your face, but you will need to read a mirrored version of the scale. If I remember correctly, the original Vive came with a mirrored cm scale printed on the side of the manual for exactly this purpose.

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

[VR] Orodruin said:
Interpupillary distance. (Just for the record.)

Thanks for the correction. I couldn't remember that at the time, but I was close enough to get the message across.

VR CobraCommander · Jul 14, 2020

_bryan said:
So after this discussion I went back in and everything was cross-eyed. So I decided to mess with the IPD, and I got it to a point where nothing was cross-eyed anymore and I could see everything pretty clearly.

That IPD thing helped quite a bit, I ended up playing for about 2 more hours and I don't feel like I have a headache now.

Now the bug is the game is not loading my "aussie droid" key bindings but I found a log file that says it couldn't find my joystick. I will play with that tomorrow.

Glad to hear you've got it up and running pain free.
Enjoy.

Not sure about your loss of key bindings. I've not heard of VR causing this as a permanent issue.
The only thing I can think of is what happens with one of my accounts on starting up (weirdly doesn't happen with my other account).
I start the game and it loads up in VR to the main menu, but I can't use my HOTAS to navigate the menu. It's as if my key bindings are missing.
What I need to do is look at the monitor and then click the mouse pointer within the game mirror window, which will focus the game. After doing that I can use the HOTAS to navigate the menus and use it in game.
Hope that helps.

Craith · Jul 15, 2020

Loss of keybinding could be unplugging the device and plugging it into a different USB slot. You can try to plug it into the original slot (trial and error if you don't know anymore). You can also edit the binding files to map it to the new device ID, but I've never done this so can't give instructions on it.

concerning VR, nausea happens when the sensory input of your eyes does not match with the sensory input of your inner ear, leading your brain to think you have been poisoned. It is usually quite ok when you are in the cockpit, since you have a stable frame of reference for your mind, but in the SRV, when flying through canyons or when using the external camera it gets worse. The good news is that you can train your brain to accept these inputs, when you feel the nausea to start just take a short break. Some people also state that having a fan pointed at their head helps lessen it.

The headache is usually caused by a wrong IPD (I get it sometimes when I let my kids play and forget to turn the IPD back up). A to tight headset might also cause some discomfort, for my kids I have shortened the headband using paper clamps to ensure it sits well on their smaller heads. Most of the newer headsets are better balanced and have a better strap than my old Vive though.

_bryan · Jul 15, 2020

CobraCommander said:
Glad to hear you've got it up and running pain free.
Enjoy.

Not sure about your loss of key bindings. I've not heard of VR causing this as a permanent issue.
The only thing I can think of is what happens with one of my accounts on starting up (weirdly doesn't happen with my other account).
I start the game and it loads up in VR to the main menu, but I can't use my HOTAS to navigate the menu. It's as if my key bindings are missing.
What I need to do is look at the monitor and then click the mouse pointer within the game mirror window, which will focus the game. After doing that I can use the HOTAS to navigate the menus and use it in game.
Hope that helps.

Hi Cobra,

Yes I have noticed that same issue. There is a "window" on my ASUS display that looks similar to what I'm seeing through the HMD. When that "window" is focused, all my HOTAS input goes to the game. But for example if notepad.exe is focused then all my HOTAS is gone forever until I click the right window.

I think I figured out the keybinds problem and I will answer that in another comment.

_bryan · Jul 15, 2020

Craith said:
Loss of keybinding could be unplugging the device and plugging it into a different USB slot. You can try to plug it into the original slot (trial and error if you don't know anymore). You can also edit the binding files to map it to the new device ID, but I've never done this so can't give instructions on it.

concerning VR, nausea happens when the sensory input of your eyes does not match with the sensory input of your inner ear, leading your brain to think you have been poisoned. It is usually quite ok when you are in the cockpit, since you have a stable frame of reference for your mind, but in the SRV, when flying through canyons or when using the external camera it gets worse. The good news is that you can train your brain to accept these inputs, when you feel the nausea to start just take a short break. Some people also state that having a fan pointed at their head helps lessen it.

The headache is usually caused by a wrong IPD (I get it sometimes when I let my kids play and forget to turn the IPD back up). A to tight headset might also cause some discomfort, for my kids I have shortened the headband using paper clamps to ensure it sits well on their smaller heads. Most of the newer headsets are better balanced and have a better strap than my old Vive though.

You know that trick about the fan is funny. It gets so hot here in the summer time I was pointing a fan at myself to keep cool while playing the game. I noticed yesterday the nausea was much better, and maybe that's why. I also measured my eyeball distance and used that, which could be related.

I think what happened with my key bindings was that I have a semi-defective HOTAS and sometimes it works and sometimes the PC cannot find it. I have found a permanent "fix" by just unplugging and plugging back in the HOTAS (same USB port). After I plug it back in the PC finds it. The ED game placed a log file in the keybinds folder which I think explains why it refused to load the keybinds:

Code:

There where errors when loading preset file: Custom.3.0.binds
There are multiple entries of binding "MouseGUI" Only the first will be used
There are multiple entries of binding "MouseGUI" Only the first will be used
Missing devices: ThrustMasterWarthogJoystick

I ended up buying a USB extension cable so that way I can unplug it and plug it back in. Here is a video from before I figured any of this out.

https://sally.org.il/video/Joystick_1/Joystick_1.html

The HOTAS works well enough that I don't really care if I get another one. It's a bit disappointing findings these little problems, because it was so expensive. But that's okay, in the end I am able to "get it to work" with just a tiny bit of effort.

_bryan · Jul 15, 2020

The game itself does seem to have key binds problems. Sometimes it reverts me back to the default keybinds and I just have to go back into the Controls settings and select Aussie Droid 3.0 keybinds. Then everything is working again.

moogleslam · Jul 15, 2020

I've found the most important thing to avoid motion sickness is to consistently maintain a high refresh rate of 90Hz.

Craith · Jul 15, 2020

If the joystick is not connected (or malfunctions) when the game launches, it will not be able to choose your settings (since one input is missing) and thus switch to the default ones. I have a similar problem with mine (but since its LEDs are dark if the connection doesn't work I know before launching) - never had a problem when it was connected from the beginning.

moogleslam said:
I've found the most important thing to avoid motion sickness is to consistently maintain a high refresh rate of 90Hz.

This too - low framerates definitely mess with you.

_bryan · Jul 15, 2020

Craith said:
If the joystick is not connected (or malfunctions) when the game launches, it will not be able to choose your settings (since one input is missing) and thus switch to the default ones. I have a similar problem with mine (but since its LEDs are dark if the connection doesn't work I know before launching) - never had a problem when it was connected from the beginning.

This too - low framerates definitely mess with you.

So I ran into this again today, and it took me 30 minutes to finally solve it.

With this Aussie Droid script, I had to use the TARGET Script Editor program, recompile the script, and then run the script launcher again to make it work. I think what you described is true---that the USB Device ID has changed somehow. And now I suspect that every time this happens I'm going to have to recompile the script.

Technology can be very frustrating, but at least I know what to do now (I think).