Neck pinching while looking up

[ScoWalt]

Background: I've historically had issues with some of the vertebrae in my neck. They tend to get inflamed / pinched when looking "up". (Don't worry, I'm not looking for medical advice, and I've been to a physical therapist about this )

I've noticed that most of the games in VZ Play require you to look straight forward. Because of the forward posture of exercise biking, this requires the player to look "up", extending the front of the neck and contracting / pinching the back of the neck.

To VIRZoom, it would be great to have an option to look "down" (between my legs) and continue to see what's in front of me. (EDIT: Doing this would allow me to keep a neutral posture while playing the game, avoiding the neck pinch) I don't know if this could be done by just resetting the view, or maybe there could be a mirror between my legs in the virtual world?

To other players, have you encountered this same issue? Have you found any workarounds?

Cheers!

[emalafeew]

Hi ScoWalt,

In VR it's important to keep your inner ear's sense of gravity the same as your eyes, so none of our games offset your viewpoint with respect to the horizon. But we have some ideas for you.

As a start, make sure to set the "Low HUD" option in both games, to not look up as much for the HUD and menu button.

It sounds like you are using a Spin bike, which orients your body forward and head down. You'd find an upright stationary bike more comfortable for looking around at horizon level. We really like this one https://www.amazon.com/Exerpeutic-GOLD-F...014VX254A/, but you can find higher and lower end models.

We're sure you don't want to buy another stationary bike but that's probably the best solution.

[ScoWalt]

Thanks for the response! All good things for me to consider.

[emalafeew]

Sure! Our games also feel great on recumbent bikes. That company makes a folding recumbent if space is an issue

https://www.amazon.com/Exerpeutic-525XLR...B01MTUKQMU

[ScoWalt]

Quick update on this, in case it benefits anyone. (Just to cover my butt: I'm not seeking medical advice, nor is this intended as medical advice.)

Because of the forward posture of the bike (I have a Proform 505 SPX Indoor Cycle), my neck muscles are exerted more in order to hold my head up. This puts some strain on the muscles in the back of my neck, but I anticipate this will go away with more reps.

I spend most of my time in the game with my chin tucked (to keep a neutral spine). I have my eyes tracking the top of the VR display, which is where the horizon is located in this posture. My favorite games are the car and bike racing games, and I've been able to play those very effectively in this posture.

For the head-aiming games (tank, helicopter), my head range of motion is too limited with the forward posture, so I don't play those.

If I was purely buying this for the gaming perspective, I would probably invest in an upright bike. However, I really like how much of my body feels engaged with the spin bike.

My only piece of feedback: if you haven't already, consider putting some information about spin vs recumbent bikes on your website. I bought a bike and headset specifically for this setup, and while I'm happy with all of my equipment, I may have made a different buying choice with more information about how the posture would effect the games.

Just my two cents