What are the Major Health Concerns of Virtual Reality Technology?

Is it completely safe to use virtual reality headsets? Unfortunately, it is too early to think of any satisfactory answer to this important question. Lack of research is a major reason for unavailability of information on this issue.

However, it is commonly believed among a number of health experts that the use of virtual reality headsets might have serious health risks. Certainly, VR technology is in its infancy with several technical enhancements still under constant review. Therefore, in view of the lack of genuine research, it is safe to question the health implications of using virtual reality headsets.
Before making any judgments, it is very important to understand VR technology in terms of user health. How virtual reality works? And how human brains reacts to the exposure of this novel technology?

Fortunately, we already know how VR works, a simple explanation of VR is that it tricks our brain to perceive depth from computer generated and modified imagery, thus giving a sense of reality (which is actually virtual) by digitally altering our environment. But, what will be the impact of this stimuli on our brains over time? And how our vision is going to adjust to this constant transition from reality to VR and vice versa. Some of the health experts are asserting that regular exposure to VR could alter the way our brains develop and it is too early to say whether this change is for good or worse.
One can also argue that real health risks are evident from the fact that some of the leading VR manufacturers like Samsung VR and PlayStation VR have explicitly prohibited VR for children. Another assertion is that regular use of VR may result in shortsightedness. In view of these serious health concerns, experts have advised not to use VR headsets for more than 30 minutes.    
It is still too early to predict health effects of VR accurately, but it should be kept in mind that research that is underway in this issue area may yield totally unexpected results. Therefore, it is safe to use VR headsets moderately and in shorter spans of time.