Why you won’t experience motion sickness playing our escape rooms..

Occasionally someone will ask if they might feel sick playing our VR Escape rooms. The quick answer is no, you won't (and we’ll guarantee that or you’ll get your money back - more on that later!)

But why do people ask in the first place?

Most often, it's because they've had a bad experience in a home headset. "I tried my friend's VR and it made me feel sick.” Sometimes that’s followed by “I was on a rollercoaster and..." I really wish people wouldn't demonstrate their new VR headset using roller coasters but home VR sickness can happen on far less adventurous activities.

By "it made me feel sick" they're referring to motion sickness, and it can happen when you see movement inside the headset but you aren't moving in the real world. Believe it or not, the home VR game that makes me feel VR sickness is Minecraft! Silly little Minecraft! You move around by pushing a joystick and it only takes a moment or two before i have to stop. I have spent thousands of hours in VR and yet something as daft as Minecraft I can’t handle.

So, how come people don't get sick in VR Escape’s escape room games?

You don't feel sick in VR Escape’s games because all the movement is real. Any moving around in the game is you moving around in the real world. You're not standing still pressing a joystick. You’re not seeing that you’re moving while you're actually standing still. In our games if you need something from the other side of the room you have to really walk to the other side of the room. There's no disconnect between what you see and what you feel, so there's no risk of motion sickness.

Medieval traveller vomits

What’s actually going on then?

Your ears aren't only for listening to sounds in the world around you. Ears also provide your brain information about motion and position. If your ears are telling your brain one thing but your eyes are telling it something else your brain gets confused and this causes the feeling of motion sickness you experience. The brain can handle the confusion for a short time, but people have different tolerances. That's why some people that suffer from car sickness can handle short journeys. (and why some people can play Minecraft in VR while I can’t!)

Many people experience car sickness when they are looking at a book or phone in their lap while being driven. For some, even the obstructed view by a chair back can cause it. Their eyes tell the brain that they're not moving while their ears tell the brain that they are moving. People who feel car sickness often choose to sit in the front where they have a better view of the motion they’re feeling. In home VR it's the opposite way around. Your eyes tell your brain that you're moving but your ears know you're static. That confusion creates motion sickness.

In VR Escape's games you physically walk around the room. The motion you see is the same as the motion your ears are “hearing.” When your eyes and ears are telling the brain the same thing there’s no confusion, so there's no motion sickness. Even if you're someone who gets car sick or even if you've had VR sickness trying home VR - our games will not affect you!

You don’t need to worry - you won’t get sick playing our games!

Has anyone ever felt sick in a VR Escape game?

At the time of writing, just under three thousand people have played at VR Escape in Hockley. Not one has stopped due to VR sickness. Three people have stopped because they didn’t like the sensation of having a headset on, and two have stopped because they found looking down at the earth through the glass floor in Space Station Tiberia made them anxious. (and they were both really excited that their brains could be fooled so much to actually feel vertigo when they knew they were actually standing on the hard floor of a converted barn in Hockley!)

You mentioned a guarantee?

Someone mentioned VR sickness on one of my facebook posts and when I commented with the info above she said she’d be up for giving it a go if I’d refund her if she had to stop. Of course I agreed. (although at the time of writing she’s not booked yet!) It dawned on me that I should be offering that guarantee to everyone who books - so here it is. If you come to play one of our games and have to stop due to motion sickness I’ll refund your ticket.

What’s the catch? There isn’t one. You won’t get motion sickness playing our games. Come and play.