#千万IP创科学热门# You’ve heard of motion sickness and seasickness, let’s learn about “screen sickness”!

Motion sickness, seasickness, and airsickness are common, but what is "screen sickness"?

As the game "Black Myth: Wukong" became popular, many players complained that the game made them feel dizzy and uncomfortable...

Some people feel dizzy and nauseous after using their phones for a long time... These may be caused by screen sickness!

What is cybersickness?

Undoubtedly, cybersickness is a new term, also known as "electronic motion sickness", which is a symptom of physical discomfort caused by long-term use of electronic devices, especially watching fast-moving images, playing 3D games or activities in a virtual reality environment.

Its symptoms are similar to traditional motion sickness, seasickness, and airsickness, including dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, blurred vision, and difficulty concentrating.

In fact, as early as the mid-20th century, after the birth of flight simulators, people found that some pilots would experience simulator sickness when using flight simulators for training. This kind of sickness of flying, cars, and seasickness is called "motion sickness."

Later, with the emergence of immersive video games and VR devices, people also experienced similar motion sickness when using them, so people gave this type of motion sickness a name, called "electronic motion sickness" or "virtual reality motion sickness."

Why do some people feel dizzy and some don’t?

To answer this question, we must start with the cause of the disease.

Electronic motion sickness is primarily a sensory conflict caused by the incoordination between vision and the inner ear's balance organs (the receptors of the vestibular system).

In short, it is a chain reaction that occurs when there is a conflict between what our eyes see and the information felt by our inner ear organs and the body, and the brain becomes "confused".

For example, a classic topic is "Why do drivers usually not get carsick when driving, but get carsick when they are in a car?" This is because the driver's eyes are always fixed on the road, constantly receiving and judging various road conditions, so the human eye can synchronize with the inner ear organs. However, passengers do not always stare out the window, so the human eye cannot receive relevant scene information, but the inner ear organs always receive movement information, resulting in the phenomenon of "the driver does not get carsick, but the passengers do."

Similarly, in 3D games such as Black Myth: Wukong, the player's eyes are fixed on the ever-changing beautiful scenes, fierce fighting scenes, and the wonderful movements of Sun Wukong flying in the clouds and performing 72 transformations on the screen. The signal sent by the eyes to the brain is "I am doing intense exercise." However, in reality, the player's body is sitting on the sofa or in other static states, and the signal captured by the vestibular system in the ear is "I am not moving now."

At this time, the information transmitted to the brain by the eyes and the vestibular system conflicts, causing a sensory mismatch and triggering vertigo symptoms.

In addition, there are also large individual differences in various types of motion sickness, including electronic motion sickness. Just like some people say that they can easily control and feel nothing whether they are turning in circles with their heads down or playing on the swinging chairs and pendulums in the amusement park; while some people are naturally more sensitive to the inconsistency between visual and motion information. Not to mention the high-sickness projects in the amusement park, it is easy to experience symptoms of dizziness and nausea even when riding in a car or boat in daily life. Moreover, personal factors such as age, health status, and fatigue level will also greatly affect the severity of dizziness.

I feel dizzy but love to play. What should I do?

It’s not that there is no solution!

For those who are particularly prone to 3D sickness, they can actively try to do some vestibular training , such as balance ball training, balance beam walking, etc., to enhance the adaptability of the inner ear vestibular system.

In addition, maintaining a good diet and work and rest schedule is also important to reduce electronic motion sickness. Because maintaining a healthy diet and adequate sleep can help improve the overall quality of the body, thereby enhancing resistance to 3D motion sickness. Be careful to avoid using 3D equipment on an empty stomach or in a tired state, as this will aggravate the feeling of motion sickness. (The same as preventing motion sickness)

There are also some tips to prevent sickness while playing games. The key is to minimize your immersion in the game. For example, gamers can try to adjust the settings of their devices, such as reducing the brightness, contrast and resolution of the game screen to reduce visual stimulation; adjust the game perspective and speed, appropriately reduce the movement speed in the game, and avoid rapid rotation. Secondly, adjusting the distance between yourself and the screen , maintaining good indoor ventilation and appropriate light can also help relieve physical discomfort.

Finally, we should know when to stop playing games and browsing on your phone, take a rest , avoid long-term continuous use, and ensure that your body is in a comfortable state. If you experience dizziness, you should relax and rest immediately.