Sick to my stomach...

[Ironcat]

Okay guys, I really need some help with this one.

I absolutely LOVE thrill rides, roller coasters especially but pretty much any carnival ride is fun... the problem is, my stomach is a wuss.
I get sick on almost any ride... I once got sick on a roller coaster simulator!

Anyway, now that I have my new awesome gaming rig up and running, my graphics are so great that I am getting nauseous running around playing my old favorites.

If anyone has any helpful suggestions, frame rate, refresh rate, whatever.. let me know... PLEASE!

*going to take some pepto now and lie down*

[Ironcat]

Welcome to the world of simulator sickness, a condition similar to motion sickness that is caused by exposure to virtual environments.

Sure, we know that we're not running around a dungeon with a shotgun, but our ears and eyes have a harder time reaching the same conclusion. The result? Confusion between the senses that can cause headaches, nausea, vertigo, and dizziness while playing and, even more surprising, sometimes for long periods of time after playing.

The answer lies partly in the fact that virtual reality technology - the concept behind games like Quake, Duke, and Unreal - has some very serious side effects. So serious, it seems, that it might be impossible for futuristic concepts such as VR helmets and holodecks to really catch on for a large portion of the world's population.

Worse, as 3D gaming technology becomes more advanced, we might very soon reach a critical mass of technical capability that is simply too real for the majority of people who want to play! At the rate 3D accelerators are advancing, this could happen very shortly, if it hasn't happened already.

Motion sickness most typically results from situations where a person's inner ear is thrown off balance by physical motion; the internal fluids move around, causing the body to lose its sense of foundation. This is what usually causes the nausea and vertigo that some people experience on boats and airplanes where the basic foundation is constantly in motion (research shows that approximately 80% of people are susceptible to some form of motion sickness). This is not, however, what is happening when people become sick while playing video games.

Simulator sickness, by comparison, results from purely virtual circumstances. There's not much motion involved in playing Quake (ducking and bobbing, perhaps, but not much else), so the sickness people feel is coming purely from the screen and speakers - their virtual visual and aural environment - as opposed to their real environment. However, simulator sickness is intrinsically related to motion sickness in terms of symptoms, and studies have shown that people who are prone to getting motion sickness are also more likely to experience simulator sickness (and vice versa).

What causes simulator sickness? Surprisingly, there's no simple answer, and very little research on the topic. The most popular explanation for the cause of simulator sickness is the "cue conflict theory," which states that the discrepancy between the stimuli that different senses detect causes confusion for the body. Basically, this means that if your eyes think you're moving, and your body does not feel any motion to support that claim, you can become confused and disoriented.

[Airbozo]

Yes it is pretty common. When I ran the virtual reality labs a sgi, there were a couple of universities and a few companies investigating causes and cures. If you are susceptible to motion sickness you will get VR sickness. Sometimes the patches help, but because you are really not moving, I _think_ they are not as effective. Roughly 50% of the people that put on the 3d glasses complained of some nausea.http://www.shortcourses.com/how/stereo/crystaleyes.gif
That number increased to about 80% when donning the VR helmets.
http://www.a-s-l.com/images/v8.jpg
I too have issues with some of the VR gear and the larger displays like the one in my old lab;http://escience.anu.edu.au/lecture/cg/Display/Image/large_wall.jpg
Try to up the refresh rate to 85 if you are using a CRT, but I am not sure that you can change it on an lcd.

EDIT: BTW I had issues in the roller coaster simulator in Orlando.

[nil8]

Dandelion stems boiled with some honey will help supress nausea.
Chamomile tea is more available and also help. It will also make your throat dry, so drink water afterwards.
The only plant that can squelch it absolutely is illegal, so I won't mention it.

Maybe a timed situation? 30 minutes of gaming, 30 minutes of quiet looking outside, or sodoku or something else that involves the senses affected.

Could it be that your senses aren't acclimated to the new system? I noticed a profound difference going from 2.1 to 7.1 sound system in the way my brain handled it, specifically while playing shooters.
For the first couple of weeks, I kept looking behind me, expecting to see behind me in the game.
I've also found that if I play on 2.1 systems, my brain will try to fill in the sound that it's become accustomed to.

[Silenced_Coyote]

I second that notion on the sound system thing. First game I played with my new 5.1 system was doom3. Boy was THAT a bad idea.. LOL I didn't get motion sickness but I had to change my under-roos a couple times...

-Jeremy

I wonder what is in store for me because I'm going from:
Laptop graphics (best game it could play was Diablo 2) to 8800GTS.
Laptop speakers to 5.1.

This big jump can't be good... :dead:

Anyways, I get car sick only when I'm not driving and either the drive is either really long or kind of long and in traffic. But I don't have any problems with games.

That interval gaming sounds like a good idea. Even if I don't get motion sickness, it is a good idea to unglue my eyes from the screen.

Concerning bumping the refresh rate on an LCD monitor:

An easy way out of this trouble is to transfer LCD monitors to a refresh rate of 75 or even 85Hz. You may argue that many monitors already support 75Hz, but I have to disappoint you: this support is implemented only on paper in most cases. The monitor is receiving 75 frames per second from the PC, but is discarding each fifth frame to display 60 frames per second on the matrix.


Full article if anyone is interested (off the thread topic about motion sickness but still a good read):
Contemporary LCD Monitor Parameters: Objective and Subjective Analysis (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-parameters.html)

[Drac998]

It will pass with time, as your body/mind adjusts to the new sensations, and really considering that your now looking at more vibrant colours, faster motion on screen and more in depth sound; your mind preceives motion when your perfectly still. Take into account you need to sit the diagonal distance of your monitor * 8 for best viewing. Most of us sit alot closer to our screens then we should. Best thing would be to play a little, break, little more, break; till you adjust.

[Produkt]

first time I played D3 it was only 6pm with headphones at a lan party... it was spooky. but after that first time, it didn't scare me, because I ended up learning their spook pattern.

I tell you a good one though is the hidden (hl2 mod) because you never know where that thing is coming from, it only has a knife and after it gets behind you... you are toast so its very startling...

[Omega]

First time I played D3 It was in a very dark room (and house for that matter) with a really cheap knock-off 5.1 system (which I later traded for a real good 2.1) at like 3 AM.

I was unphased =/

[slytherock]

I get sick after 5 min of any doom game. God I need to quit drinking... :redface:

[progbuddy]

Here's one thing that will make you more succeptible to VR sickness. If its too dark in a room, your attention is focused even more onto the screen, causing nausea, depression, etc. Play in a well-lit room.