Sony Patents Anti-Sickness VR Headset

It seems that Sony still has faith in VR, and their looking to make it easier to play. A recent patent filing by the company details a new virtual reality headset for the PlayStation VR system that works to minimize simulation sickness.

Published last week, the patent was actually filed early last year. This model puts a greater focus on "simulator sickness," the feeling of nausea, dizziness, and discomfort met with VR games. Many folks refer to it as motion sickness, due to their similar sensations.

The new headset comes equipped with thermometers, moisture sensors, and even eye tracking systems in order to closely watch how the player is feeling. This is then registered into a "health threshold value." The hardware can then react accordingly.

This is a new approach to handling simulator sickness. So far, the focus has been on improving software techniques to reduce sickness. This can be seen with things like minimizing peripheral view during movement and implementing a teleportation system.

Considering the current console generation's lifespan, there's a fair chance that this particular headset design won't be put into production until the next console, a.k.a. the PlayStation 5. On the other end, Microsoft Xbox had abandoned their VR console project for the Xbox One. It's also possible that better anti-sickness measures will have been discovered by this time.