Tips to Improve Your Virtual Reality Experience
By Matthew Evidente

Virtual reality (VR) is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to educate, train, and entertain its users. Numerous companies and schools are adopting this new technology, but to what extent are they utilizing it? There are various factors that can improve or degrade one’s VR experience. If these factors are identified and accounted for, then users of the technology will see improvements in their learning and overall experience.
The first thing to look at when determining how to improve your VR experience is methods of increasing immersion. higher resolution to maximize immersion and ultimately improve your overall VR experience. Immersion is incredibly important when it comes to VR as it is an indicator of how believable and well-received the experience is. The speed and computational power of a VR device can greatly enhance the immersive experience. Frames per second (FPS) is an indicator of how “smooth” a video is. Lower frame rates can cause “discomfort” and a “disruption of presence” according to Sony’s Vernon Hamon, Sr. Technical Account Manager, at the Montreal International Game Summit 2015. Therefore, Sony has made 60 FPS the minimum on PlayStation VR games, but they are recommending games and animations run at 90 FPS for the optimal user experience. In addition to FPS, it is also important that VR devices have a high resolution. Palmer Luckey, the founder and creator of the Oculus Rift, stated in an interview, “To get to the point where you can’t see pixels, I think some of the speculation is you need about 8K per eye in our current field of view [for the Rift],” Therefore, it is important to pick the VR device that has the higher resolution.
Another way that you can maximize immersion in a VR experience is by utilizing the correct controllers. In the early days of VR, it was common to see an Xbox 360 Controller being used to control the user in the VR world. However, there are now many different ergonomic controllers on the market designed specifically for use within VR. The advantages these controllers bring are vast: they allow for the free movement of both hands, they naturalize controls by emulating real life motions, they can display the user’s fingers, and they can be displayed within the simulation, helping users use the controllers.
Lastly, one final important factor that can greatly improve your experience in VR is to take regular breaks. VR can be very straining for your eyes and neck so it is important to take a 15-minute break every hour or whenever you being to experience any sort of discomfort. This final tip also helps you when using VR in learning situations such as in school or in job training because in 45 minute sessions, more information is retained.
If you take all the tips here into account, then you will begin to see your VR experience improve significantly. To have a high quality and immersive VR experience, it is necessary to have optimal FPS rates, higher resolution, and better controllers. On top of that, regular breaks will keep everything safe, comfortable, and will help you retain more information if you’re using VR as an educational tool.