Nausea is not the only physical risk associated with virtual reality devices. “Some individuals may also experience severe dizziness, epileptic seizures or blackouts when exposed to certain flashing lights or patterns,” Oculus VR warns in its terms and conditions policy. Restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese reportedly pulled the “Ticket Blaster” virtual reality simulation from its locations due to fears that the flash-heavy simulation might trigger seizures in children.
At least for the foreseeable future, virtual reality is nowhere near good enough to be confused with actual reality. It is good enough, however, to trick the subconscious brain into thinking that the user is really in a given situation. Because of this, wearing the Oculus Rift can trigger phobias such as a fear of heights or spiders.
While this can be used therapeutically to help patients deal with those phobias in a safe and controlled way, it can also cause a severe shock to a user who is not expecting to confront their fear. This may make for a funny YouTube video, but it could also cause problems for both users and companies using virtual reality experiences as marketing tools.