It doesn’t take much for a fun VR session to turn into an unplanned visit to the emergency room.
When your brain is tricked into believing that your body is physically located in outer space or on top of a skyscraper, it’s easy to experience a close encounter with an immovable object. Unfortunately, such encounters rarely end well for the people who experience them.
That’s why all new and experienced VR users alike should practice the following safety tips:
- Don’t use your VR headset when sick: Even a mild sickness can throw off your sense of balance and your ability to respond to fast-paced stimuli. That’s why you should avoid using your VR headset when feeling sick. Instead, we recommend you watch a movie or read a book.
- Never handle dangerous objects while immersed: While strapping a real knife to a VR controller may seem like a cool idea for a TikTok video, it’s also a really dumb way to end up with a gnarly injury, and the same goes for other dangerous objects—all of which you should avoid handling when immersed in virtual reality.
- Create a safe environment for yourself: Before playing any virtual reality game, but especially one that requires you to move around, you need to create a safe environment for yourself by removing all objects that could stand in your way. Also, make sure your’e not too close to your TV because a smashed TV is the most common VR-related insurance claim.
- Think about your pets: If you have pets, then you should keep them from being around you whenever you put your VR headset on because you never know how they will react when they see you franticly waving your arms around and making all sorts of other potentially frightening movements.
- Limit the amount of time you spend in VR: To avoid headaches and nausea, it’s best to limit your VR sessions to approximately 20 minutes per session. Of course, everyone is different, and you might be able to tolerate much longer sessions. Still, your eyes will thank you for giving them a break from time to time even though VR headsets can’t damage your eyesight.
These five simple tips can go a long way in preventing VR-related disasters.
