Anyone Else Concerned with Having a VR LED 1 inch from your Eyeballs ?`

I can't believe this hasn't come up yet, People are preparing to put a VR headset on their heads and have an LED screen a mere one inch from their eyeballs for hours on end.

No one has bothered to ask what long term effects this could have on their vision, or possible migraine headaches, seizures and so on.

The original 3DS was causing headaches by the millions in it's early release, and that was a 3 inch screen being held two or more feet from your eyes, now we have these much larger and wider HD screens strapped on our heads right in front of our eyes and no one has bothered to ask if there are any health risks affiliated with short to long term use ?

I would like to know what, if any precautionary measures HTC, Sony and Oculus have taken to ensure gamers of safety measures upon using their product.

As it is we all know cell phones, tablets and computers today emit an low level radiation that needs to be used in moderation, some have even attached those special magnetic rad absorbers to their devices to help with the emissions, so again i ask what have these companies done to ensure or forewarn their customers of such health risks and the measures that can be taken to prevent any such problems.

Doesn't seem like a good idea to separate each eye for extended periods of time.

Preparing? You know some folks have had these things for months already, right? I've never had a headache, dizziness or eye strain from VR. I never had any of those things from the 3DS either though.

I predict a first wave of problems include jerking your head which yanks on the cords, causing PS4s to go flying off the shelves and being utterly annihilated upon impact, or at very least cords contacts get ripped and require repair.

I'm surprised that hasn't been brought up.

Yep, you're the first one to think of this. These companies didn't spend years investing millions into R&D to sort out these potential issues, they just strapped a screen into a box and let it ride.

You should call them right now and share your thoughts.

You're the chosen one.

The gimmick will be gone fast enough that we won't have o worry about any bad side effects

Nope, because I am not buying in! LOL But please, buy PSVR and Oculus folks, you'll Love it!!!

Considering. The brightness of the screens are at an acceptable leve of tolerence and your focus point is at a natural distance thanks to the lenses,its almost as if they thought of this when they spent money on research and development....crazy I know.

Like the person above said....You are the chosen one.

Sure, I've wondered that as well.

But looking at your monitor/Tv/smartphone/tablet screen for hours on end doesn't sound very healthy either. Especially for kids who are still growing up.

well they did call it morpheus, he's taking this way to personal

Didn't that stuff inside toothpaste turn out to be unhealthy ? Fluorescent or something

Didn't asbestos turn out to be unhealthy ?

Didn't smoking turn out to be unhealthy ? Mr. The Stoner :p

Sometimes health risks only become noticable years, decades or even way longer down the line.

Scientists have warned about the effects of letting people of young age look at screens too much. And the light in LEDs is affecting people's sleep as well.

This is what R&D is for... Something tells me that these companies conferred with professionals on the matter.

Tons of things can cause long-term issues, that there haven't been studies on, due to often how fucking long we can go before issues arrise.

@R4gn4r0k:

Yeah definitely man. Lots of long term side effects will take time to rear their ugly heads. Like with E-Cigs now, everyone seems to think they're safe (and I absolutely believe they're a better alternative), but only time will tell us how safe they really are.

My only point was that these concerns aren't new. This topic has been there alongside VR development all along, from consumers and engineers alike. Of course people are concerned for their own health and safety and of course these companies want to provide an enjoyable experience while avoiding lawsuits like the plague.

I'm not saying that these products are perfectly safe in the long run, just saying that these companies have taken all the precautions they can to avoid such issues.

OP is framing it as if nobody has really questioned the risks lol.

Never thought about it.. Now that you mention, it kind of worry me!

I heard BluRay causes cancer.

TC has a certain way of writing things, I guess :P

Yeah, but I think people have a lot of responsibility for themselves as well. If you really think smoking 20 cigarettes a day is healthy, sure go ahead and do it.

You really think eating french fries and hamburgers every day is healthy ?
You really think sitting in front of a tablet/pc/tv/smartphone for 8 hours on end is healthy ?

We ourselves need to evaluate our behaviour. Check if we are causing harm to our own health. Check if there is unhealthy stuff we love too much, that has become an addiction. With whatever we do. Don't always let others dictate what is healthy or not. Wut ? Bashing my head against a wall for a couple of hours isn't healthy ? Why didn't anyone ever tell me :'(

Jokes aside, it's your health. You need to take care of it. Don't expect other people to. Don't ******* sue McDonalds because you got morbidly obese.

So yeah in a way TC posed an interesting question. At least we are discussing it :)

Actual Electrical Engineer here, you are diving into speculation if you think that the levels of radiation emitted from a tablets and computers is harmful in any significant way. You are bathed in radiation 24 -7 on earth, an electric and magnetic field would have to be absurdly strong to impact you in a harmful fashion. What you want to be concerned about is ionizing radiation, which is something the industry has very strict guidelines about.

I'm guessing the causes of so many of those 3DS headaches where eyestrain or some other typical reaction to long periods of focus on a screen.

It's flouride and you were never meant to eat your toothpaste. Flouride has always been known to be toxic in high doses. Don't people read the MSDS's of materials anymore??

Anyway, you raise an interesting set of examples but they are all of items you ingest. Considering the only thing you are doing this time is looking at something, closely, I don't think there will be an issue unless you are straining your eyes in an unnatural fashion or have it to bright.

There is absolutely no difference between the light in LED's and other light sources. LED's can emit a broad spectrum light (see white LED's) or a focused spectrum light (see RED LED's). What you are referring to with LED's and sleep is the "Blue" spectrum. It has been shown to keep people awake / alert. They think it's something to do with being wakeful during the daylight hours where the blue spectrum is plentiful. Don't know why that spectrum in particular, ask a biologist.

Like everything in life; use in moderation.

It could still be doing long term damage and degrade your vision but looking at any screen for extended period of time does it's more about time than how close you are to the screen.

Also though, Watching a screen in the dark can damage your vision because The levels of light are changing rapidly so your eyes have to work hard to process the changes, which can lead to eyestrain, pain, headaches, dry eye, and redness. not sure if VR equates to watching a screen in the dark.

Nintendo's virtual boy came out like 20 years ago. Nobody was blind from it.

I've let wh*res make contact with my genitals, so no.

It likely has been thought of... tested rigorously, and written off as a non-issue.