iOS 7 changes could cause motion sickness
Apple’s new operating system has been hailed as their biggest, and most beautiful design and function change since its inception, with fans lauding the flat design and the retreat from skeuomorphic design, but could all of these updates be causing motion sickness in some users?
According to LiveScience.com, there is some validity to users’ claims that they are nauseated after using their iPad or iPhone after updating their operating system.
“I just used my phone for about 20 minutes, and now I feel like I’m going to vomit,” one iPhone user told LiveScience.
Another user claims, “It’s exactly how I used to get car sick if I tried to read in the car.”
So how could this be? Doctors weigh in
Psychologist Frederick Bonato, of Montclair State University in New Jersey studies cybersickness, and although their team has not yet extensively studied iOS 7, he notes that motion sickness symptoms may be a result of the new animations as well as the changing backgrounds new to the operating system. Also of note is that the resolution is extremely high, which Bonato says offers a very sharp, clear image — moving.”
But the most easy to identify problem could be that the icons on iOS 7 will move slightly, which Bonato says could combine with the new background and produce a disorienting 3D effect that can be a trigger for dizziness, nausea, and headaches.
“Visually, the input is indicating that the person is moving, but all the other senses indicate the person is not moving — or, even worse, with these phones, is moving in a different way,” added Bonato.
Bonato isn’t the only doctor who weighed in – a University of Minnesota professor of kinesiology stated he isn’t surprised to hear this about iOS 7. “As imaging technology develops across platforms, and we get greater frame rates and resolution, we find an increasing tendency for it to make people sick.”
How to prevent or cure iOS 7 motion sickness
Besides the obvious advice of just using your device less, Apple actually offers a setting to help in this scenario. Simply go to Settings, select General, then Accessibility, and turn on the “Reduce Motion” option which will decrease some of the effects that could be causing some users motion sickness.
With increased resolutions and a rise of creative animation, will Android and other devices soon have users claiming motion sickness? It is possible.
