Correlating reaction time and nausea measures with traditional measures of cybersickness

Abstract

We provoked cybersickness in participants by immersing them in one of two virtual roller coaster rides using a head-mounted display. As simulation technology is often used in training, our main intention was to examine the effect of the experience on their cognitive function. Participant reaction times before and after the experience were measured by averaging their response time to a visual stimulus over a number of trials. We measured a significant reduction in response time before and after the virtual experience. We also examined the changing state of nausea experienced by participants using some simple nausea measures. These included a repeated nausea rating recorded by participants at two-minute intervals. At the completion of the experience, we averaged these ratings to create a standard nausea score. As participants could decide to stop the experience at any time, we also recorded the voluntary duration of the experience. We correlated our measures with two traditional simulator sickness measures, namely the Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ) and Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire (MSAQ). The standard nausea score provided a simple measure of nausea that could be collected at regular intervals with minimal interference to the immersive experience, and was significantly correlated with both the MSSQ and MSAQ scores.

Factors associated with virtual reality sickness in head-mounted displays: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A rollercoaster ride may be more likely to induce VR sickness to the level of severity where users will request to discontinue the experience. For example, almost 67% of participants in a study using a rollercoaster virtual environment were unable to complete an exposure time of 14 minutes (Nesbitt, Davis, Blackmore, & Nalivaiko, 2017). In contrast, content consisting of low amounts of motion may be less likely to induce VR sickness (Guna et al, 2019), as well as in cases where head movement in a fixed position is concordant with what the user would experience in the real world (Rizzo & Koenig, 2017).…”

Beyond Feeling Sick: The Visual and Cognitive Aftereffects of Virtual Reality

“…(41). The categories are as follows: No/minimal symptoms (0-10), significant symptoms (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), and symptoms of serious concern (>20). Decoupling of the oculomotor system in VR leads to subsequent VR sickness symptoms.…”

“…5). An individual's susceptibility to aftereffects may be influenced by factors such as repeated exposure (41,43), and VR content (14,34). Investigating how long these effects last for would be an important step in understanding the potential risks associated with individual changes and symptoms after VR.…”

“…The findings from research examining VR aftereffects on specific areas of cognitive functioning such as mental rotation, visual-spatial working memory and visual search; vary between studies (11)(12)(13). Decreases in reaction time after VR immersion have been reported across several studies (13)(14)(15), but the mechanisms affected by VR is still under debate. Nesbit et al, (14), found an association with decreased reaction times and VR sickness, however, this was only for one of their two VR rollercoaster scenarios.…”

“…Decreases in reaction time after VR immersion have been reported across several studies (13)(14)(15), but the mechanisms affected by VR is still under debate. Nesbit et al, (14), found an association with decreased reaction times and VR sickness, however, this was only for one of their two VR rollercoaster scenarios. These selective cognitive aftereffects may suggest that VR content could play a role in the onset or severity of cognitive symptoms.…”