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Technology

AI can stop the cybersickness some people get when using VR headsets

By Matthew Sparkes

11 March 2021

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The discomfort some people get from virtual reality can be fixed with an AI tweak

JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Virtual reality can be compelling and immersive, but the discrepancy between what you see and what your inner ear tells you is happening can provoke nausea – so-called cybersickness. AI that adapts VR environments to match the motion of the head more accurately can reduce this.

Most VR technology uses three degrees of movement. What you see changes when you tilt your head from side to side, up or down, or rotate it. But it doesn’t take into account translational movement of the…

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