Moving through a virtual world can sometimes feel uncomfortable in VR.
This can happen when your eyes can see that you are moving, but your body is actually standing still. Flock XR includes optional comfort settings that can reduce this effect.
You can use tunnel vision, a stationary overlay, both together, or neither.
Use tunnel vision while moving
Use the set VR comfort block to add tunnel vision while the player is moving through the virtual world.
Tunnel vision temporarily reduces how much of the scene is visible around the edges of the player’s view.
When the player stops moving, their full view returns.
Movement at the edges of our vision contributes strongly to our sense that we are moving. Reducing this peripheral movement can therefore make artificial movement in VR feel more comfortable.
This could include movement caused by:
- A joystick
- Gravity
- An animation
- A moving camera
Only motion your body did not make counts. Moving your own head or physically walking around your room does not trigger the effect.
Choose when to use tunnel vision
You can set tunnel vision to:
- auto — use tunnel vision when the project is being experienced in a VR headset, but not on a flat screen or in AR
- off — never use tunnel vision
Tunnel vision is off by default. You need to add the set VR comfort block if you want to use it.
Using auto means you can use the same project across different devices without needing to change your blocks.
Choose the strength
Strength controls how far the edges close in when the player is moving quickly.
A low strength leaves most of the player’s view visible.
A high strength creates a much narrower view.
Medium is a good place to start, but comfort varies from person to person.
Choose the colour and transparency
You can also change what appears around the edges of the player’s view.
Colour controls the colour of the tunnel. Black is the default and is commonly used in VR experiences.
You could instead choose a colour similar to the sky or surroundings in your project to make the effect less noticeable.
Alpha controls how solid the tunnel is.
It works like alpha elsewhere in Flock XR:
- 0 is completely transparent
- 1 is completely solid
A lower alpha lets the player retain more awareness of what is around them, while a more solid tunnel removes more peripheral movement.
Add a stationary overlay
Flock XR also includes another type of VR comfort aid: an overlay.
Instead of removing some of the moving scene, an overlay adds visual markers that remain stable while the virtual world moves.
This gives your eyes something stationary to refer to.
You can use an overlay on its own or combine it with tunnel vision.
Choose an overlay
There are currently three overlay styles to experiment with:
- dots — a sparse collection of small points around you
- grid — a wireframe grid on the floor
- horizon — a faint level ring at eye height
- none — no overlay
The horizon stays level even when you tilt your head, so it can also provide a visual reference for which way is up.
Choose when the overlay is shown
The shown setting controls when the overlay appears.
Choose:
- when moving — the overlay fades in while the virtual scene is moving and fades away when it stops
- always — the overlay remains visible throughout the experience
Having the overlay always visible gives the player a constant stationary reference.
Showing it only while moving has less effect on the appearance of your world.
Try both and see what works best for your experience.
The overlay stays with the player
The overlay is drawn over the top of the virtual scene, so objects in your world cannot hide it.
It also keeps its relationship to the player’s real space even if the project moves them somewhere else in the virtual world.
In a phone holder, the markers can remain level and stable as the phone turns, but they cannot remain fixed to a particular position in the room because a phone can detect which way it is pointing but not its position in the space.
Comfort settings only affect VR
VR comfort settings do nothing when a project is being viewed on a flat screen or in AR.
This means you can add comfort options to a project without changing how the same project behaves on other devices.
Which settings should I use?
There isn’t one comfort setting that will suit everyone.
A good starting point is:
- Set tunnel vision to auto
- Start with medium strength
- Try the default black colour
- Experiment with the overlay both when moving and always
Then test your experience in a headset.
Comfort is particularly worth considering if your project moves the player without them physically making the same movement.
Why can these settings help?
Flock XR’s tunnel vision is based on research into reducing cybersickness by temporarily restricting peripheral vision during virtual movement.
Fernandes and Feiner (2016) demonstrated a technique that dynamically reduced the field of view while participants moved through VR and restored it when they stopped.
The stationary overlay uses a complementary technique sometimes called a rest frame or independent visual background. Rather than removing moving visual information, it provides stationary visual information alongside it.
Research by Prothero and colleagues (1999) found that an independent visual background could reduce simulator side effects.
A 2025 review and meta-analysis by Allison and Palmisano examined 97 studies of visual factors associated with cybersickness and found evidence supporting both peripheral field-of-view restriction and independent visual backgrounds.
These techniques can help make VR movement more comfortable, but people respond to VR differently. Comfort settings should be treated as options for the player rather than a guarantee that someone will not experience discomfort.