Virtual reality being used in a hospital. Photo by: Bloomberg / YouTube
Virtual reality being used in a hospital. Photo by: Bloomberg / YouTube

Virtual Reality Gameplay Can Cause Severe Dizziness, Seizures, Epileptic Seizures or Blackouts

Virtual environments continue to become more interactive with the rise of virtual reality.

Recently, a group of gamers found themselves within the platform known as VRChat and noticed a user experiencing a seizure. The hardware uses full body tracking to allow other players to see some body movement.

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The incident has brought forward a valuable discussion on virtual interaction between gamers. For decades video games have primarily been used in a solitary experience. When a person is experiencing a physical problem, or a mental problem, it has been in more of a private manner.

This recent incident on VRChat has created a window for other people to start to see into the lives of their fellow gamers. Second Life has had a similar platform in the past, but lacked full body tracking.

My theory is that in addition to being able to add functionality to the tracking system that could notify local hospitals when a physical problem occurs, that this could also spur additional support for gamers. With the rise of machine learning I find that when gamers start to show mental problems, that there should be functionality setup to give them therapy online.

One of the problems I see in gaming is the violent programming, anti-social behavior, and a lack of human interaction that creates mental issues. I see a future of machine programming that will create notifications in a similar manner as physical notifications to allow gamers to be able to work out their issues before they get out of hand. In comparison to problems going unchecked, online gaming can be a form of identification and resolve to getting people help.

The VRChat did have some players continuing their gaming experience, but other players did stop and wanted to provide support. I find that the majority of players would want to get their peers support whether it is a physical or mental issue.

Watch over this experience on YouTube via Rogue Shadow VR YouTube channel. It is interesting that YouTube demonetized this video. It was uploaded with permission from the user, and does not contain violent content. I am sharing this important video to help raise awareness for human interaction online.