If you've ever experienced a virtual reality injury or have seen someone else suffer one, you know just how traumatic an experience it can be. VR injuries are not to be taken lightly, whether you're the injured party or even if you're doing the injuring. Without proper precautions, an accident could leave both physical and emotional scars that last for years after the initial incident, and may even force you to rely on painkillers for the rest of your life. But what causes these injuries in the first place?
It isn't enough to know that a VR device injuries happened; companies everywhere want to know why it happened. And more importantly, they want to stop their employees (and consumers) from experiencing it themselves. The most common causes of injuries in virtual reality include:
• Using your hands and touch controllers to interact with the physical world around you, which is programmed to mimic actions that would cause injury in the real world (such as picking up a stove pot or smashing through glass)
• Lifting objects that are beyond what your body can physically handle, which can cause muscle strain or nerve damage.
• Falling off the physical environment due to poorly placed objects or sudden changes in your simulated environment, including walking off of a ledge. This is an extremely dangerous form of injury because you are completely unaware that it's happened until after it has already happened.
• Being disconnected from the virtual world due to the limitations of your technology, including power failure or signal degradation.
• Traveling at high speeds in a vehicle that you are not directly controlling, which can cause reality sickness. The same goes for visual cues that are out of sync with what you're physically experiencing.
Just as many VR injuries are brought about by accidents, there are a variety of ways to avoid them in the future. Below are a few safety tips that can help prevent injuries from happening again:
• Make sure your device's components are high quality and up-to-date to ensure that there isn't any unintended malfunctions, such as overheating or loss of signal. In addition, always make sure that all of your wires are properly connected and routed, as disconnections can lead to accidents.
• It's a good idea to only use the equipment you need rather than bringing everything you own into virtual reality. This reduces the chances that your devices will overheat due to excessive strain or other issues.
• If possible, try playing in VR on a carpet or other soft surface, which will absorb some of the impact if you happen to lose your balance or fall.
• Always maintain an awareness of where you are in virtual reality and what is around you so that nobody else has to get hurt by your actions.
