If you've ever felt a little woozy or nauseous after extended periods of watching movies, playing videogames or scrolling through your smartphone, you could be experiencing "cybersickness," according to The New York Times.
"It's a fundamental problem that's kind of been swept under the carpet in the tech industry," said Cyriel Diels, a cognitive psychologist and human factors researcher at Coventry University. "It's a natural response to an unnatural environment."
Cybersickness is also called "digital motion sickness" and, unlike traditional motion sickness, stems from seeing movement that you do not actually feel. Conversely, traditional motion sickness stems from feeling movements that you do not see.
"Your sense of balance is different than other senses in that it has lots of inputs," said Steven Rauch, a medical director and professor of otolaryngology from Harvard Medical School. "When those inputs don't agree, that's when you feel dizziness and nausea."
Some scientists believe that the symptoms of digital motion sickness could cause real-life dangers; for example, someone who operates a vehicle after watching TV for hours could experience visual and balance problems, according to Good Housekeeping. Furthermore, even if you're feeling fine after long periods of digital immersion, many users have a diminished ability to react to the real-world stimuli around them, according to StyleCaster.
