Practical Hygiene Advice For Virtual Reality Users
Tags: VR, Hygiene, Virtual Reality, Coronavirus, News And Opinion

Practical Hygiene Advice For Virtual Reality Users

Here are our top tips for ensuring you can enjoy VR whilst staying safe during the coronavirus pandemic. REWIND Follow Dec 8, 2020 · 5 min read

The coronavirus pandemic has put everyone on a hygiene alert. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has outlined basic protective measures: Wash hands frequently, maintain social distancing, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, and practice good respiratory hygiene.

But what are the best practices if you are sharing immersive technology?

As any VR user knows, sweat and heat can quickly build up when you’re wearing a headset which can lead to an unhygienic environment. Add to this that headsets and controllers could be shared amongst friends and colleagues, and you have a situation that would turn germaphobes green.

Whether your tech looks dirty or clean is irrelevant. If an infected person sneezed and a droplet landed on a headset, a person who handles that headset in the same place could pick it up. It is also possible someone could get COVID-19 by touching infected surfaces, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. For example, COVID-19 can survive for two to three days on banknotes and glass, and up to six days on plastic and stainless steel, although results vary.

Wiping down the headset after each use is a basic requirement, but there are other measures that can be taken. Here are a few top tips for ensuring your equipment is kept as clean as possible.

Wash Your Hands

If you are handling your own tech or using someone else’s, one of the simplest ways of keeping the kit clean is having clean hands. If someone is using your devices, ask them to wash their hands before making contact with your tech. Your hands are one of the main routes that viruses make their way from surfaces to your respiratory system, so keeping them clean is important. Follow these guidelines from WHO on hand washing.

If you can’t get to a sink, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer will do the job. Luckily, the coronavirus has an envelope structure which alcohol can attack (unlike norovirus and rhinovirus which alcohol gels don’t kill).

Antibacterial or Antiviral Wipes

Another way to keep your equipment hygienic is to always have some antibacterial or antiviral wipes to hand. They are the cheapest and quickest solution should you find yourself needing to refresh your technology. However, do ensure that the wipes are alcohol-free and non-abrasive, otherwise, they may cause the material to break down. Some of the harsher wipes may cause an adverse reaction with a user’s skin, so bear this in mind if you are sanitizing equipment for yourself or others.

AF Tech Wipes / AF International

Disposable VR Masks

If you’re demonstrating VR to others, you’ll want them to have an optimal experience. Unfortunately, even those with high levels of cleanliness will have natural oils and grime on their face which will build-up on the foam faceplate over time if you do not protect or clean it regularly.

Disposable covers such as these are perfect for keeping your headset clean and protected for all of those who use it. Each mask is single-use. It is fitted over the ears and across the eyes before placing a headset on and ensures that everyone gets a fresh VR experience every time, plus they’re pretty affordable.

Silicone/Wipeable Faceplates

For VR developers who are using a headset day in day out, a more suitable long term solution would be a replacement faceplate for your headset that can be wiped clean. VR Cover is an excellent ‘one-stop-shop’ for all of the popular headsets including Oculus, Vive, Valve Index, Gear VR, and WMR. The store offers replacement head straps and face covers that can be wiped down and even put in the washing machine.

There are also hundreds of other replacement faceplates available online in a variety of wipe-clean materials, but for any VR professional or enthusiast, these are a must-have.

VR Cover

Silicone Controller Covers

VR controllers are another item that can harbour germs, just like a computer keyboard or mouse (which can have 400 times the amount of germs on them than a toilet seat!). It is important to either wipe them down regularly or invest in some covers that can be removed and cleaned as needed. Again, there are plenty of types available online for various controllers, but we prefer the silicone ones as they are easy to wipe down and keep your hands from slipping on the plastic.

Whilst we are all on high alert with regards to hygiene with the current pandemic, it is important to manage the hygiene of your VR equipment at all times. These simple and low-cost steps are easy to adhere to and should become part of your VR routine.

UV-C Technology

A more high-tech and enterprise-focused method of disinfecting VR headsets, and other technologies, is using UV-C light to kill 99.99% of bacteria and viruses.

The leader in this space is Cleanbox, a premium smart tech hygiene solution for the decontamination of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality headsets and other mass use hardware. Cleanbox is a self-contained box which users can place their VR headsets, or any other hardware, inside and their items will be disinfected in less than two minutes with medical-grade ultraviolet C light and high-velocity air.

This is not a solution for the everyday user, however, as a Cleanbox will set you back a couple of thousand pounds and is more suited to businesses that regularly do demonstrations or have multiple users through multiple headsets.