The Apple Vision Pro: Are Mixed Reality Glasses Causing Motion Sickness?
The Apple Vision Pro flooded the streets of the United States less than a week after its launch. Now, dozens of users have started returning the device for various reasons, with motion sickness being one of the main issues.
The number of reports on social networks about refund requests is striking. Despite this, it is early to suggest that Apple’s mixed reality glasses are a commercial failure. Recent history has shown that the practice is common around technologies in early stages of development and adoption.
The Vision Pro were described by Tim Cook as the most advanced personal device in history and were launched with a starting price of $3,400. Unlike other similar proposals, its main objective is to cover the productive needs of users, although they do not leave aside leisure. Expectations surrounding the use of the device were high.
Users who are willing to return the gadget to the stores cite all kinds of justifications, including confusing experiences in use, discomfort, and functions that fall short of justifying the price. But one of the most common reasons has to do with experiencing the motion sickness syndrome.
Motion sickness is a consequence of a normal physiological response to an unusual perception of real or apparent movement. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that the organ registers displacement actions through impulses from the inner ear, eyes, muscles, and joints. When you receive indications from these structures that do not agree with each other, dizziness occurs.
Anyone can suffer from it, but it is more common in children, the elderly, and pregnant women. Its most common symptoms are vertigo, fatigue, paleness, nausea, cold sweat, and vomiting. It is estimated that about a quarter of people in the United States suffer from this syndrome.
The relationship between devices such as the Apple Vision Pro and this clinical illness is evident. These devices work under the principles of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. To navigate a virtual reality environment and experience immersion, users do not need to move from their position. Augmentation has to do with the superposition of virtual objects on a real environment. The mixed one combines these virtual elements with the real ones.
A study published in 2020 by the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the United States warned that “current technology still fails to replicate human visual processes.” However, Apple took into account this issue during the research and development process for its glasses and made adjustments to reduce the likelihood of motion sickness.
Apple advises on its support page not to use the Vision Pro for long periods, in high-motion situations, or if users are prone to motion sickness, and provides tips to avoid possible episodes of motion sickness such as decreasing the window size or increasing the screen distance, reducing the level of immersion, and activating the “Reduce motion on the device” setting.