How Much VR Time Is Too Much?

Virtual Reality (VR) is fun; most of us know that. By slapping on the headset, we instantly enter a different world full of excitement. However, can the fun and excitement from VR harm us back in some ways?

VR can be bad for your health if overused. The key is to figure out when to stop using VR so that we only reap the positives but stay away from the negatives. How much VR time is too much?

Some VR systems makers, such as Oculus and HTC, have recommendations. They advise users to take a 10-15-minute break after using VR for 30 minutes. This ensures you are relieving your eyes, brain, and body from the physical strain of using VR.

This article explores how VR use can be good and bad for our health. Then it looks at what is the optimum time to use VR well. Lastly, we look at how to use VR wisely and reduce health risks.

Virtual Reality headsets are great for gaming and entertainment but there are some instances where one might wonder if VR is worth it, we have discussed the same in our article Reasons Why VR Is Not For Everyone

What Are The Health Benefits Of VR?

VR can bring many health benefits, so it is used increasingly in medical settings. The benefits include:

• Encouraging Exercise
• Relieves Social Anxiety
• Improves Sleep Quality
• Improves Balance And Coordination
• Pain Relief

There is a reason why VR is so popular these days. It comes with many benefits, including health benefits for humans. This may be why VR is increasingly used in medical procedures, therapy, and more.

Encouraging Exercise

If you use the correct VR application, VR could help you exercise. This is because some of the activities you can do in your VR world may require physical movements.

For example, suppose you are playing a First Person Shooter (FPS) video game such as Call of Duty. Traditional PC or console gaming would have you glued in front of the TV and shooting away with a console.

Not with VR. Suppose you hooked up an FPS game with a Meta Quest Pro, a VR-rifle controller, and a Virtuix Omni. In this case, you have just set up a serious workout rig for yourself.

You will run around and move up and down while playing the game. Now, that is some serious exercise.

Relieves Social Anxiety

One of the major mental health issues facing society today is social anxiety. This may be because of the increasing usage of gadgets. This causes people to communicate less face-to-face.

VR can help facilitate recovery from social anxiety by providing real face-to-face communication. Patients can communicate and hang out in the VR world with real people in real time.

Once the patient develops enough confidence, they can go out and meet people in the real world.

Improves Sleep Quality

We have mostly been told that using electronic gadgets before sleep can harm our health. Well, be surprised, as VR headsets can help with sleep.

In fact, a scientific study discovered that people sleep better with VR. All they need to do is to use it to perform some relaxation activities.

A study was done on Parkinson’s patients who have sleep problems. After playing VR video games for 10-12 minutes, they reported better sleep overall.

This may be because of the physical movements involved. As a result, they feel tired and end up sleeping better.

Improves Balance And Coordination

VR can also help you to develop better balance and coordination. This makes VR very useful for physical therapy. This may be good news for senior citizens and people recovering from a long injury.

VR does this by first providing enhanced sensory feedback. Exploring the VR world helps you to be more aware of your physical position in space. As a result, you tend to move in ways that help to develop your balance and coordination.

VR can also help with motor skill training. In games such as boxing, you learn to swing fists, dodge, and move around. VR can also help to remove fear in performing some activities. This is because you know you are in a simulated, safe environment.

Pain Relief

Finally, VR can also help with pain relief. VR may achieve this by bringing you an immersive experience to the point that you may not be reminded of the pain. This means you could pop your painkillers less.

In fact, the medical world is trying to use VR for pain therapy and even during medical procedures.

Can VR Be Harmful To Health?

Prolonged VR use can be bad for your health. There have been reports of users feeling nauseous after using VR. Some also experienced eye strain, headaches, and seizures. Some users also suffer physical injuries from using VR.

Despite all their potential health benefits, VR comes with its own health issues. Most of it comes from prolonged use, without resting in between. VR users have reported the following:

Eye Strain

Eye strain is a common condition for VR users. Those with eye strain may experience the symptoms below. Symptoms may worsen the longer you use VR uninterrupted.

• Feeling tired in the eyes
• Excessive tearing or dryness
• Difficulty in focusing and concentrating
• Light sensitivity.

Scientists hypothesized that VR may cause eye strain since it is placed very close to the user’s eyes. This means your eyes must simulate a broad vision and focus hard to see what’s on display.

On top of that, VR displays may emit blue light as well. As a result, your eyes tire faster.

Body Pain

You may experience VR pain for different reasons depending on the VR use. The more common is from staying still for too long.

Some VR applications can be used rather passively. For example, watching a VR movie does not require much movement. When doing this, you may sit still in a position for a very long time. This causes your muscles, bones, and neck to feel the strain and become painful.

On the other end, you may experience body paint from excessive movement. Suppose you play VR games that need physical movements, such as sports or FPS. In that case, you may move in ways that cause muscle pain the next day.

This is more likely if you do not treat your VR gaming as an exercise. Instead, you jump straight in without warming up and stretching.

Headaches

Another common issue that may come from VR use is headaches. Many reasons could cause this.

Generally, it is accepted that VR can be taxing on the brain as it attempts to process the visuals and stimulants you see and hear. As a result, the strain may manifest itself as headaches.

Headaches may also be caused by wearing the VR headset itself. Some VR headsets can be heavy, straining the neck and causing headaches. Some users also may have over-tightened their VR head strap, causing blood circulation issues. This may also cause headaches.

Seizures

About 1 in 4,000 may be sensitive to rapid light flashes. When exposed to rapid flashing lights, these people may experience epilepsy and seizures.

When under epilepsy attack, they may show symptoms. These include severe dizziness, muscle twitching, and blackouts. Seizures are a serious medical condition, as patients may injure themselves. For example, biting on their own tongue.

Suppose you have been playing with VR uninterrupted. In that case, the chance of experiencing VR-induced seizures increases. It may make sense to rest in between sessions, just in case.

Radiation Exposure

VR may potentially expose you to harmful electromagnetic frequency (EMF) radiation. This is especially so if your VR is paired with your smartphones, which emit radiation.

Many studies have pointed out how EMFs can affect the human reproductive system. EMFs are known to cause lower sperm count and sleep disorders too.

Long-term exposure to EMF can also cause cancer, as EMFs have been identified as a form of carcinogen. Carcinogens are substances that can cause cancer in living cells.

EMFs may penetrate deeper into our bodies and cause more issues if placed closer to us. This makes VR headsets rather bad for our health, as they are designed to be worn immediately to our heads.

Physical Injury

Another possible health issue that may come from VR use is physical injury. Often, physical injuries from using VR may be indirect.

For example, suppose you are watching and participating in a group workout via VR. In that case, you may not be aware of the physical limitations of your own space. As a result, when you jump and move your hands and feet, you may accidentally hit or knock onto something. There are also issues when VR players lose balance when moving around. This is because people may be too deeply immersed in their VR environment. As a result, they lose awareness of their physical being in real life. As a result, falls or sprains may happen.

How Much VR Time Is Too Much?

Now that we know VR can be good and bad for our health, we must strike a balance on how we use VR.

This is because VR seems to bring health issues only when used excessively. This means there must be a point where VR’s health benefits diminish.

The question is, how can well tell this optimal point?

The answer may lie with science and the VR system makers themselves.

Some VR systems makers, such as Oculus and HTC, do have recommendations. They advise users to take a 10-15-minute break after using VR for 30 minutes.

During the break, consider performing relaxation and nourishing activities. These include drinking water to rehydrate. You can also close your eyes or look far away into the greenery to relax them.

Some physical stretching may also be good. This is especially if your VR experience involves sitting still for a long time.

How To Use VR Wisely?

To use VR wisely, consider performing warm-ups before using VR. This is important, especially if you intend to be physically active. You can set a timer to remind yourself to rest and to take frequent breaks to ensure you do not overstrain your body.

We can take many actions to ensure a great VR experience without the bad aftereffect. These usually involve:

• Preparing yourself before using VR and
• Ensuring you rest and recharge during VR sessions.

Prepare Yourself

In many cases, you may enjoy your VR experience better if you prepare yourselves a little bit.

For example, start by ensuring you have adequate space to move around while using VR. This may mean tidying up your space or setting up your VR rig in an empty room or space where you can move around.

Another may be to perform some stretches and warm-ups. This ensures your body is ready to perform the movements during your VR session. This may be important if you intend to play physical games or exercise.

Set A Timer

One way to manage VR sessions well is to take breaks. However, VR is a very immersive experience, so we may be so deep into it that we forget to take breaks.

This is when a timer comes in well. A timer brings us back to the real world and reminds us to take a break.

You do not need anything fancy to do this. A simple timer using your smartphone or computer is more than enough. If you use phones or computers for your VR, consider using an old-school alarm clock instead.

Use Blue Light Filter

Another way VR can cause health issues is from blue light emissions. Blue lights are naturally emitted by the sun during the day, which helps your brain to stay alert.

There is no more sun at night, which means no more blue light. At this time, your body slowly releases melatonin, a hormone to help us fall asleep.

However, wearing VR headsets at night introduces blue light. This may cause your brain to think that it is still the day. As a result, the brain does not generate melatonin, causing you to be unable to sleep.

Installing a blue light filter on your VR headset may make sense to avoid this problem. These are simple plug-and-play filters, making them cheap and easy to use.

Relax Your Eyes

Your eyes may be the part that gets strained the most during any VR session. This is because the eyes are exposed to bright visuals. The displays are also very close to the eye, so your cornea must generate wide vision.

This means you should take all the opportunity to relax your eyes during a VR session break.

One thing you can do to relax your eyes is to close them for several seconds to allow them to rest. If you feel dryness, consider dropping eye drops to moisten them up.

You can also spend some time looking far away into the greenery for up to 20 seconds. This helps your eye cornea return to a neutral shape and relax.

Listen To Your Body

Finally, always listen to your body as you enjoy your VR session.

Suppose you have been taking frequent breaks or relaxing in between. However, there will be days when nothing seems to work, and your body, brain, or eyes don’t want anything to do with VR.

For example, barely five minutes into using VR, your head starts to throb in pain. It could also be that your body is still in pain from yesterday’s intense VR workout.

During moments like this, taking a break from VR is better to let your body rest and heal.

Listening to your body may be even more important if you have preexisting conditions. Some preexisting conditions can make VR dangerous to you, such as epilepsy.

If you feel something is wrong or are experiencing symptoms of epilepsy, stop using VR and rest. If you worry things will get worse, get professional medical help immediately.