What are VR Legs?

Through exposing yourself to more VR experiences, you can develop a resistance to VR motion sickness. That is known as getting your “VR legs.”

I believe almost everybody can develop VR legs, but some people have to work much harder to get them. In particular, women and older people have a harder time overcoming motion sickness than others.

How Long Does it Take to Get VR Legs?

For some it can take a week… others it might take months, or even more than a year.

For me it took over a year as I had a really bad case of VR motion sickness… But if I was equipped with my current knowledge, I believe I could’ve done it much faster!

Overall it depends on:

• How severe your motion sickness is
• How often you use VR

How to get your VR Legs (Step-by-Step)

First find 2-5 games you really love from here. Make sure they include at least one of each comfort category:

• Comfortable
• Moderate

Step 1: Get Comfortable in VR

For the first few days, only play stationary VR games like Beat Saber. No artificial movement!

Roomscale games are okay (where you walk around in real life to move in the game).

You can find these games by using this custom Oculus Quest search engine. Filter by choosing the ‘comfortable’ tag and optionally the ‘roomscale’ tag. Use the search bar if you can’t find these.

Step 2: Start Using Teleport Locomotion

Now you can play games with artificial motion (where you press the controller to move forward), but start with teleport locomotion only.

Teleport locomotion means you press forward on the joystick and you’ll be teleported to the location you’re pointing at. Most games have this option, you just need to find it in the options.

Avoid turning in-game using the controller. Instead, turn in real life when you need to.

VRChat is a great game for this.

You can find these games by filtering for ‘comfort: moderate‘ in our Oculus Quest games list.

If you ever feel nausea, stop for that day and keep going tomorrow or the day after (depends on when you’ve fully recovered).

Step 3: Add in Snap Turning

Snap turning means you’ll instantly rotate 45-90° when turning with the controller (these can be adjusted in the settings).

Start by using a mixture of snap turning and turning in real life. Don’t use snap turning too much until you’re comfortable with it.

Do steps 2 & 3 for about 1-4 weeks until you’re fully comfortable with it and can play for over an hour.

Step 4: Begin Smooth Locomotion

Time for the end goal: smooth locomotion!

Smooth locomotion means you’ll be holding down the analog stick of your controller to move around.

Avoid snap turning or smooth turning. If you need to turn, stop moving in game and make a turn in real life.

Progressively add in these things once you’re comfortable with moving back and forth:

• Side-to-side movement
• Snap turning while standing still
• Snap turning while moving
• Smooth turning

And that’s how you grow your VR legs!

Tips for Getting VR legs:

• Make sure to go at your own pace. Some people might be able to do all these steps in a week, others might take a few months. Pushing yourself too hard can have a negative effect. If you really struggle with smooth locomotion, I recommend spending more time in games like VRChat using teleportation.
• Getting VR legs isn’t a black or white thing: at first you might only be able to spend 2 minutes in smooth locomtion, but that number will gradually increase to 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, then until you rarely or never experience VR motion sickness.
• Be persistent. Use VR daily. If you take long breaks in between each session, it’ll take much longer for you to get your VR legs.
• Having a higher refresh rate can decrease motion sickness (although don’t use the 120 Hz option if you can’t maintain a stable refresh rate).
• Games that contain realistic pictures can cause more motion sickness. Avoid these when starting out.

Lastly: focus on the game and not the motion sickness. Getting anxious about it will make it worse, trust me.

And that’s how you grow your VR legs!

Enjoy spending hours in VR with no motion sickness!

Feel free to email me any questions: hello@vrheaven.io