What’s it like to use the Oculus Rift for seven hours straight?

Are you asking me? I have no idea. I had horribly expensive laser surgery (wavefront lasec) a few years ago and while there's no evidence to suggest the Rift can negatively affect it, I freak out at eyestrain so I'm taking it really steady with my Rift, even if I am trying a lot of demos. Not this guy though, he spent over seven hours straight in the Rift and has reported his findings.

The tester in question got his Rift a couple of weeks ago and has been taking regular breaks while using to give his eyes and brain a rest, but for this session he took time off from work and began hammering through Half Life 2 and Portal. He then wrote down how he felt every hour.

No word on whether he made the “Rift face” for seven hours though

Before reading the results of his ‘study' it's worth noting that he had added eyestrain, he believes, from not using his glasses.

Hour 1: Little to no eye strain, slight dizziness
Hour 2: Little to no eye strain, slight dizziness
Hour 3: Some eye strain, slight dizziness
Hour 4: Some eye strain, almost noticeable nausea
Hour 5: Noticeable eye strain, slight nausea (got used to it)
Hour 6: Little to no eye strain, no nausea
Hour 7: Some eye strain, no nausea

Interesting that he felt that the nausea went away over time. I've had that during my shorter spells, but only when it came on quickly. That slow build that lasts for a while, I haven't had dissipate while I've been playing, though I don't suffer too much with it.

The eyestrain though is interesting. The time it takes for me to get the usual Rift headache (similar pain to rolling your eyes up into your head as hard as you can) is increasing the more I use it but I wonder if it tails off if you fight through it? Perhaps.

KitGuru Says: It's not the most scientific of study of course and the results are speculative, but they're interesting nonetheless. You can thank MrMolecularMan for his efforts.

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