Vitrual Reality's Effect on the Mind and Body

Over the past two years we have seen some amazing developments taking place in the field of virtual reality. New games, applications, and products are just a few of the topics ruling conversations about VR. Amongst all of the excitement surrounding the future of VR, the way that this new technology will affect its users often gets overlooked. Researchers around the world are working to assess how the use of VR will affect a user’s mind and body over time.

The known effects and health and safety risks that have been attributed to this relatively new technology will be discussed briefly in this post.

Physical Effects

Some common side effects often experienced by users include:

• Nausea 
• Eye strain (sometimes severe) 
• Motion sickness 
• Anxiety 
• Headaches 
• Blurred visions 
• Disorientation

As of right now most major headset creators advise that children should not use their product. Even adults are urged to take lengthy breaks every half-hour or so to avoid these effects.

Physical Injury

Headsets that cover the eyes pose the obvious threat of visual impairment. Users can see what is in front of them in the virtual world but not in the world that they are physically in. Tripping over or walking into an object sounds funny until it actually happens. It may seem simple to avoid these injuries, however they are very common and VR headset makers must warn consumers about them in their Health and Safety guidelines.

A type of physical injury that users are warned about in the Oculus Rift headset’s Health and Safety Guidelines is repetitive stress Injury. The document states, “Using the device can make your muscles, joints or skin hurt. If any part of your body becomes tired or sore while using the headset or its components, or if you feel symptoms such as tingling, numbness, burning or stiffness, stop and rest for several hours before using it again.” (Oculus 2016).

Neurological and Psychological Effects

Data pertaining to how the use of VR headsets affects the brain over time is hard to come by due to the fact that this technology is still very new. Although developers have been working on virtual reality programs and simulations for decades, commercial headsets have just become available to the masses in the year 2016.

              The video above, from www.wsj.com, briefly discusses VR's health risks and its psychological effect on users

Although some short term effects have been listed above, we are still unsure of how virtual reality will affect one’s mind and body over a long period of time. Many researchers agree that it is far too early to tell if VR’s effects extend beyond the short term at all.

Nikola Davis a writer at theguardian.com published an article with a quote from a professor of optometry at the University of Cal, Berkeley named Marty Banks. When discussing the aspects of virtual reality and vision, Banks said, “Everything I have seen suggests it is all short-term and you readjust after you take that headset off. But I think it would be unwise for us to say there is no problem.” (Davis, Banks 2016)

As advancements in the field of VR continue to be made, we can expect new research about the technology’s effects to become readily available to users.

Resources:

Nicas, J. (2016, 3 January). What Does Virtual Reality Do to Your Body and Mind? Retrieved October 16, 2016 from

http://www.wsj.com/articles/what-does-virtual-reality-do-to-your-body-and-mind-1451858778

Magyari, D. (2016, 8 January). Virtual reality: Are health risks being ignored? Retrieved October 16, 2016 from

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/08/virtual-reality-are-health-risks-being-ignored-commentary.html

Davis, N. (2016, 19 March). Long-term effects of virtual reality use need more research, say scientists. Retrieved October 17, 2016 from

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/19/long-term-effects-of-virtual-reality-use-need-more-research-say-scientists

Oculus. (2016). Health and Safety. Retrieved October 17, 2016 from

https://static.oculus.com/documents/310-30023-01_Rift_HealthSafety_English.pdf#page=1&zoom=130,149,218