Effects of virtual body motion on visually-induced motion sickness

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Neuroscience
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Visually-induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a significant concern in immersive technologies like video games and virtual reality.
• Previous research indicated virtual roll motion is a potent VIMS trigger.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of different image types (random dots vs. ordinary scenes) and virtual rotation speeds on VIMS.
• To refine methods for assessing VIMS in simulated motion environments.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted to test VIMS.
• Experiment 1: Assessed sickness scores with virtual roll motion using different image types.
• Experiment 2: Examined the effect of virtual rotation speed (yawing, pitching, rolling) on sickness.

Main Results:

• Virtual roll motion consistently produced the highest motion sickness scores, irrespective of image type.
• Rotation speeds between 30 to 60 degrees per second yielded the highest sickness scores across all rotation types.

Conclusions:

• Non-reciprocating rolling motion in visual simulations is a robust inducer of VIMS.
• The speed of rotation's effect on VIMS may stem from visual-nonvisual information conflict, not retinal image speed.