Research reveals listening to music can ease Cybersickness

As technology continues to advance and people become more reliant on digital devices, the risks of cybersickness, also known as virtual reality sickness, are increasing. Cybersickness is a form of motion sickness that occurs after prolonged use of virtual reality experiences such as computer games. Symptoms can include disorientation, sweating, nausea, headaches, and even vomiting.

In an attempt to find a way to manage cybersickness, a collaborative study between the Department of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh and the Inria Centre at the University of Rennes in France − published in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics journal − has revealed that listening to music could reduce the dizziness, nausea, and headaches associated with the sickness.

The research shows the potential of music in lessening cybersickness, as well as the significant effects of the sickness on thinking skills, reaction times, reading ability, and pupil size,

Dr. Sarah MacPherson − of the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh − stated that the study suggests calming or soulful music as a solution for cybersickness in immersive virtual reality. 

“Virtual reality has been used in educational and clinical settings, but the experience of cybersickness can temporarily impair someone’s thinking skills as well as slow down their reaction times. The development of music as an intervention could encourage virtual reality to be used more extensively within educational and clinical settings.”

Dr Sarah MacPherson on cybersickness

With the widespread use of digital devices worldwide, it is important to explore different ways of managing cybersickness. Some ways suggested by VIVO Clinic include cutting down the amount of time spent in front of screens, avoiding the usage of multiple screens simultaneously, taking frequent short breaks to rest the eyes and changing positions, focusing the eyes on a stable object away from the screen, and avoiding consumption of heavy foods before long periods of screen usage.

In conclusion, the study shows that music could be an effective and easy-to-use solution to alleviate cybersickness for virtual reality users

The featured image is taken from Zee5