Visually Induced Motion Sickness Susceptibility and Recovery Based on Four Mitigation Techniques

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) usage continues to grow, but visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) can decrease VR effectiveness for some users. This study seeks to compare methods of VIMS mitigation and explore sickness among gender and video game experience groups. Participant discomfort and early dropout are problems for studies that involve virtual environment (VE) exposure, but previous research has demonstrated that natural decay and physical, real-world hand-eye coordination tasks can serve as effective mitigation strategies. In this study, 57 participants wore a head-mounted display (HMD) and navigated a maze VE designed to induce cybersickness. Participants then experienced one of four mitigation techniques: real natural decay (HMD off), virtual natural decay (HMD on with idyllic VE and no locomotion), real hand-eye coordination task (HMD off), and virtual hand-eye coordination task (HMD on). Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) measures were taken periodically throughout maze and mitigation tasks. Results demonstrated that peak sickness during the maze VE occurred after approximately 10 min. Analyses of mitigation techniques showed that real natural decay resulted in significantly more sickness recovery when compared with the virtual hand-eye coordination task for SSQ total score, nausea, and oculomotor constructs, but not disorientation. The real natural decay technique was the most effective at bringing participants' final sickness measure back to their initial baseline measure; however, other mitigation techniques yielded effectiveness, but at a lower rate. This study extends previous research about hand-eye mitigation approaches by demonstrating that natural decay and hand-eye tasks in a virtual and real-world setting were effective in reducing VIMS. Real-world natural decay was the most effective at mitigating VIMS, and the virtual hand-eye task was not as effective as the other three tasks. Women experienced more VIMS than men did but also recovered than men did during mitigation. Video gamers experienced less VIMS than non-gamers. These findings bolster extant knowledge about VIMS mitigation techniques and can inform future development of virtual mitigation techniques.

The impact of task workload on cybersickness

“…Researchers studying cybersickness have sought to understand its causes (Keshavarz et al, 2014;Chang et al, 2020;Stanney et al, 2020), develop measurement instruments (Davis et al, 2014;Chang et al, 2020), and identify possible mitigations (Kim et al, 2008;Nie et al, 2019;Jasper et al, 2020). However, existing research on causes of cybersickness frequently focuses on the hardware systems, e.g., latency or field of view, or on the dynamics of the imagery, e.g., with VR games rated Comfortable, Moderate, and Intense by Oculus (Fernandes and Feiner, 2016).…”

Two sides of the same coin: accessibility practices and neurodivergent users' experience of extended reality

“…Additionally, previous research has investigated how neurotypical users could mitigate motion sickness in VR, such as through the physical hand-eye-coordination tasks, real-world natural decay and adding visual effects or elements (Dennison and Krum, 2019;Jasper et al, 2020;Tian et al, 2022). However, no study tested the efficacy of these techniques for neurodivergent users.…”

“…However, as highlighted in the study by Das et al (2021), compound effects on neurodivergent users are likely to be different from the ones experienced by neurotypical users due to increased sensitivity to inducing factors. Additionally, previous research has investigated how neurotypical users could mitigate motion sickness in VR, such as through the physical hand-eye-coordination tasks, real-world natural decay and adding visual effects or elements (Dennison and Krum, 2019;Jasper et al, 2020;Tian et al, 2022). However, no study tested the efficacy of these techniques for neurodivergent users.…”

The Relationship Between Personality, Recalled Cybersickness Severity, and Recalled Cybersickness Recovery Time

“…Experience of cybersickness and motion sickness symptoms are significantly related (Gavgani et al, 2018), suggesting that some individuals may also be highly susceptible to cybersickness symptoms, making virtual environments potentially inaccessible for certain populations. For instance, women (Jasper et al, 2020;Munafò et al, 2017), and older individuals (Arns & Cerney, 2005) have been found to be more susceptible to cybersickness, whereas those who play video games more often are less susceptible (Jasper et al, 2020). Additionally, there is some evidence for individual differences in cybersickness recovery such that women experienced a greater reduction in cybersickness symptoms in 10 minutes after discontinuation (Jasper et al, 2020).…”

“…For instance, women (Jasper et al, 2020;Munafò et al, 2017), and older individuals (Arns & Cerney, 2005) have been found to be more susceptible to cybersickness, whereas those who play video games more often are less susceptible (Jasper et al, 2020). Additionally, there is some evidence for individual differences in cybersickness recovery such that women experienced a greater reduction in cybersickness symptoms in 10 minutes after discontinuation (Jasper et al, 2020). Beyond demographic differences in susceptibility, understanding the role of personality in cybersickness may provide important insights due to links between personality and health (Takahashi et al, 2013).…”