Will Unpleasant Side Effects Hold Virtual Reality Back?

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Excuse me while I barf

There are some exciting things happening in the field of virtual reality. The bigger ones include devices like the Oculus Rift, Microsoft HoloLens, and Samsung Gear VR, but if you stop and read the list of possible side effects, it raises some concern that VR can become a mainstream thing. For example, Samsung tells users they should stop using its Gear VR if they experience certain symptoms.
They include "seizures, loss of awareness, eye strain, eye or muscle twitching, involuntary movements, altered, blurred, or double vision or other visual abnormalities, dizziness, disorientation, impaired balance, impaired hand-eye coordination, excessive sweating, increased salivation, nausea, lightheadedness, discomfort or pain in the head or eyes, drowsiness, fatigue, or any symptoms similar to motion sickness."
That's not even the entire laundry list of disclaimers associated with the Gear VR. Samsung also advises against letting children under the age of 13-years-old use the device, and points out that prolonged use can screw with your hand-eye coordination, balance, and ability to multi-task, even hours after the fact. Samsung even warns that the radio waves emitted from the device can affect nearby devices, including cardiac pacemakers -- sorry, gramps!
A lot of this has to do with Samsung wanting to cover its bases and protect itself from liability. If devices like the Gear VR and Oculus Rift sent everyone into a seizure and turned them into bumbling fools, the projects would never have gotten as far as they have.
At the same time, reading the disclaimers is like listening to a prescription drug commercial, and there will be people that are sensitive to VR technology in different ways. I don't know how many, but if I was invested in one of these products, you can bet I'd want to find out, especially if the goal is to make a profitable push into the mainstream.
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