Man survives 48 straight hours in VR with no reported nausea

There are worse ways to spend a couple of days. (credit: Game Science Center Berlin)

Virtual reality headset makers are quick to claim that they have solved the widely reported problems with nausea and "VR sickness" that plagued earlier hardware. But if actions speak louder than words, one artist's 48-hour, reportedly nausea-free stint in an HTC Vive headset speaks pretty highly of the comfort and immersion of the VR device.

"I had no physical problems, no burning eyes, killing headaches or nausea," Thorsten Wiedemann, the founder and artistic director of the A MAZE Festival, told Vice after spending two straight days in a Vive headset for an art project called Disconnected earlier this month. While a panic attack in the 25th hour almost caused Wiedemann to drop out, the rest of the Wiedemann's extended time in VR went off uneventfully, as you can see from livestreamed footage archived on Game Science Center Berlin's YouTube channel.

Wiedemann didn't spend two whole days wandering around virtual reality in fuzzy pink pajamas to prove the safety and comfort of the hardware, though. As Wiedemann told Vice, the project was an early test of what he believes will be a common pastime in 2026, when it will be "normal that you jump into VR to meet your international friends in Social VR Rooms and go on crazy adventures together. But a long trip will be still special and could be understood as a controlled drug experience."

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