Nausea and motion sickness while wearing a virtual reality headset will soon be a thing of the past.
Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with vMocion, an entertainment technology firm, has announced that it has developed its galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) technology designed to ease nausea or motion sickness associated with using VR/augmented reality systems.
The clinic has licensed this GVS technology to vMocion.
The GVS is integrated into vMocion's 3v (stands for virtual, vestibular and visual) Platform. The technology gives VR/AR headset users a so-called three dimensional movement experience.
Brad Hillstrom, M.D., vMocion's chairman says that this is the very first fundamental technological development in a hundred years "since the combination of sound and pictures."
"By adding this magical sensation of motion in gaming, movies, amusement parks and other entertainment environments, our 3v Platform is enabling a whole new dimension of motion that creates a truly immersive experience," says Hillstrom.
How The GVS Works
The clinic has developed its proprietary algorithms to take any 2D or 3D scene in a movie or a game and convert it into a 3D sensation of motion.
This is achieved thanks to the developed software along with a physical system that touches the forehead, the area behind the ears and the nape. The technology synchronizes what the user sees with physical stimulation within a tenth of a second.
At this point, though, it already seems impossible to employ this new technology into the VR/AR headsets that are about to be released and that have already arrived. For instance, the first Oculus Rift consumer headset units have already begun shipping to preorder customers, the PlayStation VR is now up for preorder while the Vive is slated to come out very soon.
It is hoped, though, that this technology will soon be integrated into future versions of these handsets to provide a more pleasurable experience to users.
