Motion sickness and postural sway in console video games

We tested the hypotheses that (a) participants might develop motion sickness while playing "off-the-shelf" console video games and (b) postural motion would differ between sick and well participants, prior to the onset of motion sickness.

There have been many anecdotal reports of motion sickness among people who play console video games (e.g., Xbox, PlayStation).

Participants (40 undergraduate students) played a game continuously for up to 50 min while standing or sitting. We varied the distance to the display screen (and, consequently, the visual angle of the display).

Across conditions, the incidence of motion sickness ranged from 42% to 56%; incidence did not differ across conditions. During game play, head and torso motion differed between sick and well participants prior to the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness.

The results indicate that console video games carry a significant risk of motion sickness.

Potential applications of this research include changes in the design of console video games and recommendations for how such systems should be used.