VR Decompression Sickness

Currently, there is no protocol or guidance on how users can safely come back from VR to reality. Although the depth of immersion in VR is highly intense, userwill be faced with reality which has a huge gap with VR without any chance of adjustment. Inspired by scuba diver’s ascending manual, slow ascent from safety stop to the water surface to prevent Diver’s sickness, I am naming this symptom as “ VR Decompression Sickness” and suggesting a new way of disconnecting experience from virtual reality. Users will be guided to have several stops and requested to do some activities that stimulate their senses, and these stimuli are based on grounding techniques which is one of treatment of DPDR disorder. This transitional experience allows users to have a term to adjust themselves to their physical body and reorient themselves to different time and space.

Designer’s responsibility: Embrace connectivity by designing disconnectivity.

As a designer who’s interested in immersive technology, I believe that designers should remember technology is a tool, and the real goal of what they’re designing 1 is a life. So, considering the importance of disconnectivity from technology in this connected world will empower users to actively determine the way of ascending from immersion and reconnecting themselves to the physical world. Thoughtfully designed disconnect experience will embrace the value of both reality and eventually connect two different worlds. I hope this project will be a chance inviting other designers to think about how to reorient user from VR to reality and open a new design opportunity area