Ever wonder why many people choose to watch regular films than 3-D or IMAX movies? A new research study showed the real reason why many people feel sick or throw up when watching 3-D movies.
Due to the brain’s inability to process realistic images coming out of the movie screens, many people are now suffering an occasional case of nausea called by researchers as “cybersickness.”
“People suffering dizziness, nausea, and even headaches while watching 3-D and IMAX movies are unable to process the information from their senses. The brain receives conflicting information from all their senses,” Prof. Andrea Bubka, a cybersickness researcher at the St. Peter’s College in New Jersey.
Prof. Bubka also noted that the eyes and brain coordination of a person has a lot to do with the conflicting signals, saying that the vivid images being played out on screen tells the body that it is moving.
However, the “motion and balance” fluid or the sense of motion, in the inner part of the ear detects no changes in the positioning of the person’s body causing a dizzying experience to the people watching 3-D movies.
Bubka also pointed that the phenomenon was exactly the opposite to what happens during “motion sickness.”
“For example, while reading a book in a moving car, the eyes are focused on the page and do not sense that the body is moving. But the fluid within the ears senses the movements of the car, and the difference between the information coming in from these two senses causes the brain to trigger nausea and dizziness,” Bubka said.
To better understand the phenomenon, the researchers have conducted and developed a series of laboratory tests inside a device called the optokinetic drum or the “vomitator.”
The vomitator works by putting the subject inside the machine in a sitting position in the center a large cylinder that is open on the top and bottom.
The drum spins, and images on the inside of the drum move across the subject’s visual field while the subject remains still.
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