Anyone else get "motion sickness" whilst zwifting

Another thing to try might be a rocker board - so that you do get some movement while riding and therefore maybe less disconnect between ears and eyes. Proper rockers are not cheap, but you can get an idea by cutting up an old closed-cell foam camping mat (or a new one , £7 from Sports Direct, in my case :wink: ) and putting a few layers under your trainer, and some more bits under the legs - it may not sit “right” with equal amounts everywhere, have a play - I’ve got 4 layers flat under my trainer, and 4 curved up under the leg one side, 5 and a half the other. So far I’m not 100% keen on big efforts, but for comfort on longer easier rides, it seems helpful.

Trivia:
You’re suffering from a medical condition! It even has (or had) a unique scary name and an acronym, just like any deadly medical condition. It’s called DIMS, or DOOM-Induced Motion Sickness.

The background was that way back in the 90’s, the Marines experimented with practicing combat tactics virtually using a modification of the then very popular (and compared to Zwift graphically primitive) first person shooter game DOOM. And in every class there seemed to be a couple of guys who got sick, a percentage.

The phenomenon was studied by doctors and there was a report published in some scientific journal. I even read it (hey, I was a gaming journalist at the time…) And they coined it DIMS in that study. But simulation sickness is another, more modern term. It seems to be related to regular motion sickness but the overlap isn’t 100%.

Some get this, most don’t. I have a family member with DIMS. I’m completely immune myself (although the Wahoo Climb almost gets me in the Sequoia Hills in Zwift, but only because of the actual up-down motion).

If you don’t get enough advice here, then there are many many threads and articles online about the phenomenon and things you can try, stuff written for players of regular computer games. And there’s no difference really.

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All good suggestions thanks

Thanks for all of that.
I had a brain injury… And it affected my balance badly ( I thought I was going to die on thunder mountain roller coaster!)
So I think that plays a part.
It actually helps to know it’s not in my head … My partner thought I was bonkers!

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Hi Sue.

I’m pretty sensitive but have been able to make it work. The first think I had to realize is a disconnect between what I see and what I feel are what causes the sickness. I can’t play video games, I can’t run on a treadmill, etc.) but I can use Ziwift.

First, I only use the view with camera behind the rider (never first person view). In areas where the avatar is making rapid changes in direction (hair pins on the descent when moving quickly, tight eases on titan’s grove, etc.) I will look away from the screen. Those are the time with the largest disconnect. I will also look away at other times as well. I’m not sure it’s required but when I started I did it thinking it might help be completely resetting the eyes and the inner ear and have never had an issue so I keep doing it.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks I found using the handle bar view… So I don’t see avatar. I also didn’t do a race. So their was less movement from the screen…as you said I looked away from the screen quite a bit. I also wore sunglasses and moved the screen further away.
I did an hour… And it seemed ok… But I stopped at that.
Perhaps with time I’ll get used to it.

As someone who has spent tens of thousands of hours playing first-person shooters over the past 28 or so years, I’m so glad I don’t suffer from that!

Just think what an amazing life you might of had if you weren’t playing that game!!!,:rofl:

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What’s my life lacking?

This doesn’t help: Strange camera behaviour at 60 FPS on PC

10,000 hours of something else???

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I’m just glad it’s not in my head!
I use an iPad… So I’m moving it further away…wearing sunglasses and not looking at is as much.
Think I’ll avoid racing with all the people bobbing about… Unless I get fit enough to always be first… And that ain’t going to happen

Don’t worry, you won’t get that particular issue on anything except a PC with graphics card. On an iPad you’re nowhere near 60fps. :slight_smile:

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But why does that make it more amazing? That could be 10,000 hours of eating chips.

I’ve met most of my closest friends through online gaming. The guys I went cycling up Alpe d’Huez and the Croix de Fer for example. They’re pretty amazing and my life is richer for having them in it. Without Quake 2, I’d never have met them. =)

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I was only joking! It’s the old person in me!!!

If it doesn’t effect our waistline I’ll go 10,000 hours of eating chips with you.

I just finished 6 months (yeah lockdown was good for something) of playing the latest Zelda game on the Switch with my two daughters. It was the most amazing experience, and time well spent with my kids on a shared and rewarding experience. We had a lot of fun.

But anyway, back to the original topic. I do tend to get motion sickness on most FPS (shooter type) games, I think because of the speed of movement. However I never go that fast on Zwift to trigger it haha!
@sue_cunliffe is very unfortunate I think.

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The esses.
I close my eyes or look away.
I almost fell off once.
JWR

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These ‘dramatic’ changes are horrific, when you ride on rollers and let your thoughts drift while riding. Had two or three times where countersteering almost got me. There should be an option to turn those off.

Sounds like a common problem! What if you could hit a keyboard key, and pop up an overlay that blacks out most of the screen? Like this: