Mixed reality hasn’t gotten the buzz experts, enthusiasts, and even lay folks envisioned almost a decade ago. While the exact reason behind the snooze isn’t so easy to pinpoint, one common but overlooked problem takes away from the excitement VR often promises.

Dizziness is the head-spinning reality users come back to when their VR headsets come off. The phenomenon is a genuine one, and there’s a scientific term for it: virtual reality sickness.

While other VR companies are trying to outcompete one another graphics-wise – like fighting fire with fire – one startup company is trying to solve the dizzying problem that’s been plaguing VR for too long now. 

Making their debut at CES 2021, PetaRay is on the mission to deliver “the most natural and comfortable” mixed reality experience with its mixed reality solution called LFID.

How does the PetaRay work?

“The primary cause of the dizziness and uncomfortable feeling of existing near-eye displays is the vergence-accommodation conflict,” PetaRau CEO Jack Wang said.

“Vergence-accommodation conflict is inevitable for conventional displays with a single fixed focal plane, and PetaRay has developed an innovative and elegant solution to solve the problem,” Wang continued.

Delivered as an optical module for near-eye displays, the LFID projects light rays directly onto the retina. The tech’s ergonomic, fitting form factor makes it easy to match with different kinds of glasses and displays.

Aside from projecting light rays directly onto the retina, LFID utilizes continuous focal planes that make it easier to match the desired depth of field without the need for an eye-track and other sensor peripherals.

What is virtual reality sickness, and what causes it?

Also referred to as cybersickness, VR sickness is the sensation of disorientation or wooziness one may experience after exposure to a virtual environment. 

VR sickness is akin to motion sickness, with the two sharing common symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue, drowsiness, disorientation, and apathy, among others. 

While cybersickness is likened to motion sickness, the two are vastly different. One relies on “visually induced perception of self-motion”, the other is independent of any actual motion. 

A number of theories exist to explain the causes of VR sickness. 

People generally experience varying levels of VR sickness, thus predicting what human factors predict the severity of discomfort has been a more common area of study.

However, research is now shifting away from subjective concerns and towards more objective measures such as VR content and VR hardware. 

3D-displays can promote a distorted perception of 3D images. The distortion can throw off eye movement and focus, make it more difficult for humans to utilize their binocular visions.

The result? Discomfort, fatigue, perceptual distortions – just the most common symptoms of VR sickness.

About PetaRay

PetaRay has a wide range of expertise ranging from optical design to signal processing. Dr. Homer Chen, the founder of PetaRay and a renowned multimedia expert, has seventeen years of high-tech R&D and management experiences in the US industry. Jack Wang, the CEO of PetaRay, has abundant leadership experiences in electronics industry serving as the R&D Vice President and Co-Founder of Syntek Semiconductors and Myson Century and the CEO, Chairman, and Co-Founder of Tenx Technology. Dr. Jerry Chen, the COO of PetaRay, was the COO and CFO of Augentix, Inc. and Managing Director of Corporate Development at AsiaInfo Technologies, Inc.

Taken from PetaRay

Check out PetaRay’s CES 2021 iStage here.

Image credits: @korpa (Unsplash), @mkhamilton (Unsplash)