Ramps are better than stairs to reduce cybersickness in applications based on a HMD and a Gamepad

Abstract

We study ways to reduce cybersickness and improve the user's experience in virtual reality applications that use a HMD and a Gamepad as interaction devices. Our approach consists on a revision of the design space of such tasks in order to identify ways to minimize user's perceived movements. In this paper we concentrate on the task of navigation in realistic scenarios, such as the Tuscany Demo [12]. We performed three user studies in order to identify the most problematic issues in this scenario and the effects of geometry and interaction techniques in the overall experience, in particular in the task of moving up and down stairs. As a result of these studies, we propose the use of invisible ramps on top of stairs, in order to minimize users' perceived movements while moving through stairs and hence reduce users' discomfort.

Discrete Viewpoint Control to Reduce Cybersickness in Virtual Environments

“…Previous studies have shown that changing vection (speed and direction) can induce more severe sickness than steady, consistent, vection caused by walking or turning at a constant speed or in the same direction [3]. Noting this, Dorado and Figueroa report that climbing a ramp in VR will yield lower levels of cybersickness than climbing stairs [15] because it reduces vection. According to Davis et al [13], comparing two different scenarios with an Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 indicated that more complex and more realistic sceneries also yield higher levels of cybersickness.…”

“…As a result, users should feel less pronounced symptoms. Using ramps significantly reduced total SSQ scores [15] by between 10% to 24%, in two user studies. The main reason for this reduction was vection reduction and lowering vection speed (see section 2.2.2 for more information).…”

“…VR game developers have used several techniques [15,19,63] to combat cybersickness in stationary VR setups. In this thesis, we assess the effectiveness of a new class of techniques that has recently been used in some VR games to reduce cybersickness.…”

“…Several researchers have proposed different approaches to reduce cybersickness during rotation and translation [9,15,19,29]. One approach involves adding a depth of field blur effect during rotation, which simulates the focusing of the eyes at a different depth.…”

“…However, the authors did not quantify user presence, nor is it clear how FOV reduction can affect user performance. [15] proposing using ramps instead of stairs. They argue that using steady movements can reduce vection.…”