The hottest trend in entertainment right now is 3D.  Every two weeks, it seems a new 3D movie hits theaters.  With the success of films like Avatar, 3D is suddenly everywhere.  From Playboy Magazine to your television set and into your Google Maps, 3D is suddenly everywhere, and some people are sickened by it.  Not figuratively, as in “I’m disgusted that they’re making everything into a cheap gimmick,” but literally, as in, “This is giving me a headache, I think I’m going to be sick!”  Live Science has the explanation of why some people can’t handle 3D movies.

Long story short, there’s a disconnect between the eyes and brain that occurs during the viewing of 3D media.  Your eyes tell your brain that you’re moving.  Your proprioceptive system tells your brain that you’re sitting on your butt, watching TV.  The body panics as if it’s been poisoned.  That’s why everyone has the same reaction, to varying degrees.

The name of this condition, cybersickness, is appropriate.  The first time I ever experienced it was when I played Doom on my cousin’s big-screen TV.  Something about all the whirling polygons every time my character moved, and the lack of a central focal point, just made me as sick as I’ve ever been in my life after about two hours of gameplay.  (I made my condition worse by ignoring the nausea, assuming it would pass.)

Image:  William Couch

Tags: 3D, weird science, 3D movies, how 3D movies make you sick, nausea, headaches, why 3D movies make some people sick, medical news, health news, unusual health problems, cybersickness

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]