Virtual environments are envisioned as being systems that will enhance the communication between humans and computers. If virtual systems are to be effective and well received by their users, considerable human-factors research needs to be accomplished. This paper provides an overview of many of these human-factors issues, including human performance efficiency in virtual worlds (which is likely influenced by task characteristics, user characteristics, human sensory and motor physiology, multimodal interaction, and the potential need for new design metaphors); health and safety issues (of which cybersickness and deleterious physiological aftereffects may pose the most concern); and the social impact of the technology. The challenges each of these factors present to the effective design of virtual environments and systematic approaches to the resolution of each of these issues are discussed.
Eye movements of eight drivers were filmed as the drivers traveled on a local expressway at 50 mi. per hour. Search and scan patterns of the drivers became more compact and the center of location shifted down and to the left as the drivers became more familiar with the route. The center of the final pattern was located above the right road edge marker and slightly higher than the horizon. The task of car following appeared to induce greater visual workload as indicated by increased sampling rates of lane markers and greater visual travel distances to examine road signs and other traffic. The search and scan patterns verified that the peripheral area of the eye is used for monitoring lane position, other vehicles, and road signs so that the fovea may be directed for a closer examination when the situation demands it.
Some users of virtual environments experience adverse effects known as simulator sickness. Common symptoms are generally grouped into nausea, oculomotor discomfort, and disorientation. This research examined whether the severity and type of simulator sickness differs due to the type of driving environment or the gender of the driver. Three environments with variations in driver workload were developed: Highway, Rural, and City. Tests were conducted using Northeastern University's Virtual Driving Simulator. The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and postural stability tests, were used to gather data before and after participants drove the virtual environments based driving simulator. In comparison with past research, a different SSQ profile was found in that most of the symptoms reported were in the oculomotor discomfort category. This included eye strain, headaches, difficulty focusing, and blurred vision. Subjects who drove the Highway or Rural Road environments had more symptoms than those who drove the City environment. This indicates that vehicle velocity may be a factor in driving simulator sickness since subjects drove 60 mph in the Highway and Rural Road environments, but only 25 mph in the City environment. In both the before and after tests, females had less postural stability than males. Females also had a greater increase in oculomotor discomfort symptoms than males. Additional research is needed to determine why females experience more simulator sickness than males.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.