Virtual Reality: The Potential Side Effects To Your Mind And Body
Virtual reality and its concept have been around for awhile, but no one really knows what it does to the mind and body. Now that virtual reality is finally becoming a commercial reality for many people, what are the potential side effects?
The Wall Street Journal reports that virtual reality is already known to cause headaches, nausea, and eyestrain. Makers of virtual reality headsets do not suggest that children use them, drive, or do other complicated tasks if the user feels different after an experience with virtual reality, and some makers want users to take ten-minute breaks every half hour.
Nausea can occur when too much motion is happening in virtual reality, the user is moving his or her head, and the images can’t keep up. Sometimes problems can occur when a virtual reality headset tells the user the body should be moving but the inner ear knows it is not.
Oculus Chief Executive Brendan Iribe says not every experience would be comfortable to undergo with virtual reality.
“There’s going to be a lot of content that you’re only going to want to watch on a [two-dimensional] screen. You’re not going to want to be necessarily in a car chase in VR [virtual reality]. That’s going to be too much motion.”
Stanford University professor Jeremy Bailenson has 15 years worth of studies surrounding the effects of virtual reality on the mind, and he insists that people change the way they think and behave based on what they have experienced in virtual reality.
Scary situations in virtual reality may be too scary or traumatic, and makers of the systems want to make sure they keep a healthy balance of fun and adventure in mind for consumers.
Keeping a healthy balance of real life and virtual reality experiences will be on the consumers’ shoulders. According to The Kernel, once people can have full access to virtual reality, some will likely use it to escape everyday life. Some will use virtual reality like a drug and use it in unhealthy ways.
However, most people believe that virtual reality addictions and general use every day are a long way off. Most people cannot afford virtual reality devices that would immerse a person deeply into another world, and right now there just aren’t enough programs available for these devices anyway.
Startups and more well-known companies are giving consumers a taste of what’s to come in the future, anyway. This year, consumers will be able to buy more affordable versions of virtual reality headsets from Samsung, Sony, and HTC, just to name a few.
Google has already made a cardboard device for smartphones to make them into sort of primitive type virtual reality centers. The technology has people excited about more sophisticated technology which can fully immerse them into a new reality.
Like many other things, the full list of side effects of using virtual reality probably won’t be known for years until after they’ve already been in common usage. Just like cell phone usage, there will likely be debates about whether they cause cancer or do other bodily or mental harm.
“We do have to have ethics conversations,” but “the technology will be successful no matter what,” said Mike Rothenberg, the head of Rothenberg Ventures. Rothenberg Ventures has invested in over 30 virtual reality startup companies. “Every technology has downsides; the only question is how do we handle it as a society.”
[Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images for Samsung]
