Impaired stationarity perception is associated with increased virtual reality sickness

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Perception Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Stationarity perception is crucial for navigating the environment during self-motion.
• This perception relies on integrating visual, oculomotor, and head movement signals.
• Discrepancies in these signals can lead to disorientation and motion sickness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the range of visual gains compatible with accurate stationarity perception.
• To investigate how spatial frequency, stimulus location, and fixation behavior influence stationarity perception.
• To explore the relationship between virtual reality sickness and perceptual performance.

Main Methods:

• Psychophysical experiments using head-mounted displays to present controlled visual stimuli.
• Systematic variation of visual gain congruence with head movements.
• Analysis of subject responses (too slow/fast) using psychometric fits to assess accuracy and precision.
• Assessment of virtual reality sickness using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Stationarity perception demonstrated highest accuracy and precision during scene-fixed fixation.
• Spatial frequency and retinal location effects on perception were more pronounced during head-fixed fixation.
• Virtual reality sickness, particularly nausea, correlated with decreased accuracy.
• Oculomotor and disorientation symptoms correlated with decreased precision.

Conclusions:

• Scene-fixed fixation optimizes stationarity perception by enhancing signal congruence.
• Head-fixed fixation increases reliance on visual-vestibular integration, revealing sensitivities to stimulus properties.
• Virtual reality sickness severity is linked to the fidelity of stationarity perception, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms.