Cybersickness

People experience different levels of presence (e.g.  and ), and different levels of cybersickness (Sharples, Cobb, Moody, & Wilson, 2008) even though they are immersed in the same virtual environment setting. In the current study, we raised the question how differences in individual characteristics might relate to differences in sensed presence for a virtual environment related to public speaking. The individual characteristics included in the experiment were related to visual abilities, personality traits, cognitive styles, and demographic factors. We recruited 88 participants, who were first immersed in a non-stereoscopic neutral environment, and then in a public speaking world: once with stereoscopic rendering and once without stereoscopic rendering, in a counter-balanced order. The results showed that immersive tendency and monocular visual ability were significantly correlated with presence and these correlations were consistent among the three virtual environments. Immersive tendencies and its subscale “involvement” were also found to be significantly correlated with cybersickness in all three worlds. Screening people on these variables may help to recognize the users who are more likely to benefit from virtual reality applications and may help to reduce the number of dropouts during virtual reality exposure therapy.

Immersive virtual reality (VR) emerges as a promising research and clinical tool. However, several studies suggest that VR induced adverse symptoms and effects (VRISE) may undermine the health and safety standards, and the reliability of the scientific results. In the current literature review, the technical reasons for the adverse symptomatology are investigated to provide suggestions and technological knowledge for the implementation of VR head-mounted display (HMD) systems in cognitive neuroscience. The technological systematic literature indicated features pertinent to display, sound, motion tracking, navigation, ergonomic interactions, user experience, and computer hardware that should be considered by the researchers. Subsequently, a meta-analysis of 44 neuroscientific or neuropsychological studies involving VR HMD systems was performed. The meta-analysis of the VR studies demonstrated that new generation HMDs induced significantly less VRISE and marginally fewer dropouts. Importantly, the commercial versions of the new generation HMDs with ergonomic interactions had zero incidents of adverse symptomatology and dropouts. HMDs equivalent to or greater than the commercial versions of contemporary HMDs accompanied with ergonomic interactions are suitable for implementation in cognitive neuroscience. In conclusion, researchers' technological competency, along with meticulous methods and reports pertinent to software, hardware, and VRISE, are paramount to ensure the health and safety standards and the reliability of neuroscientific results.

— Driving simulation is a video game-based tool for training and testing driving ability. Additionally, the simulation is also used in scientific research to identify factors that cause traffic accident on the highway. Although the driving simulation is commonly used for various purposes, video game-based simulation has negative effects commonly known as cybersickness or visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). Furthermore, previous research works on cybersickness during driving simulation did not conduct studies on effect of physical fitness and effect of differences in the morning and evening symptoms associated with cybersickness. This research observes effect of physical fitness and time difference in the morning and in the evening using Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Analysis of SSQ data indicates that physical fitness of the driver and driving time difference yield significant impact on cybersickness. The highest level of cybersickness is during morning driving time without proper night rest. On the other hand, driving in the early morning with proper night rest reduces sickness symptoms to the lowest level. Oculomotor component is more dominant than nausea and disorientation component. This result shows that physical fitness and time difference during driving have significant impact on human visual system. This study recommends the most optimal condition for the usage of driving simulation, i.e. morning time with proper night rest. Abstrak— Simulasi mengemudi merupakan salah satu alat berbasis video game untuk pelatihan dan pengujian kemampuan mengemudi. Selain itu, simulasi mengemudi sering digunakan dalam penelitian ilmiah untuk mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor penyebab kecelekaan lalu lintas di jalan raya. Meskipun simulasi mengemudi lazim digunakan untuk berbagai keperluan, penggunaan simulasi berbasis video game menimbulkan efek samping bagi penggunanya yang disebut dengan cybersickness atau visually induced motion sickness (VIMS). Penelitian tentang cybersickness pada simulasi mengemudi yang sudah pernah dilakukan sebelumnya tidak melakukan studi tentang pengaruh kebugaran fisik dan perbedaan waktu pagi dan malam hari terkait dengan gejala cybersickness ketika menggunakan simulasi. Peneliti ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kebugaran fisik dan perbedaan waktu pagi dan malam hari pada cybersickness dengan menggunakan Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Analisis data SSQ menunjukkan bahwa kebugaran fisik pengemudi dan perbedaan pagi-malam memberikan pengaruh yang signifikan terhadap cybersickness. Tingkat cybersickness paling tinggi dialami oleh peserta pada kondisi pagi hari tanpa tidur. Di sisi lain, tingkat cybersickness paling rendah dialami oleh peserta pada kondisi pagi hari setelah beristirahat pada malam hari. Komponen oculomotor lebih dominan dibandingkan komponen nausea dan disorientation. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa kebugaran fisik dan perbedaan waktu mengemudi memberikan pengaruh besar pada sistem penglihatan manusia. Penelitian ini memberikan rekomendasi waktu dan kondisi yang paling optimal untuk menggunakan simulasi mengemudi, yakni pagi hari dengan kondisi bugar setelah beristirahat cukup.

The imminent introduction of highly immersive technologies for entertainment that bring exciting possibilities for the users also raises important questions regarding the impact on their well-being. Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP), a research approach focusing on understanding the psychosocial effects of video game playing by examining non-volitional phenomena (e.g., altered sensorial perceptions, automatic mental processes, involuntary motoric activations and behaviours related to playing video games), suggests similarities between gamers’ experiences reported after playing on conventional devices and side effects of highly immersive technologies (e.g., head-up mounted displays, highly realistic virtual environments). The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges highly immersive technologies posit to the malleable human mind, taking into account not only the side-effects of the virtual immersion manifesting as physical symptoms, but also the psychosocial implications.

People experience different levels of presence (e.g. and ), and different levels of cybersickness (Sharples, Cobb, Moody, & Wilson, 2008) even though they are immersed in the same virtual environment setting. In the current study, we raised the question how differences in individual characteristics might relate to differences in sensed presence for a virtual environment related to public speaking. The individual characteristics included in the experiment were related to visual abilities, personality traits, cognitive styles, and demographic factors. We recruited 88 participants, who were first immersed in a non-stereoscopic neutral environment, and then in a public speaking world: once with stereoscopic rendering and once without stereoscopic rendering, in a counter-balanced order. The results showed that immersive tendency and monocular visual ability were significantly correlated with presence and these correlations were consistent among the three virtual environments. Immersive t...

This presentation covers the following topics relative to VR research methods for Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology 1. Identification of necessary technological knowledge for the effective implementation of immersive virtual reality research tools without the presence of VR Induced Symptoms and Effects (VRISE) which may compromise both neuropsychological and neuroscientific data. 2. Development and Validation of an evaluation tool (e.g., questionnaire) for the quality of immersive VR research/clinical software in terms of user experience (UX) , game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. 3. Cost-effective (i.e., without depending on third-parties such as freelancers and software development companies) development of VR-EAL, guidelines for the development of immersive VR research/clinical software.

The DoD and NASA are considering virtual environments (VE) technology for use in forward deployable and remote training devices.  Yet, many of these VE devices, particularly those which employ helmet-mounted displays, have an adverse effect on users, eliciting motion sickness and other sequelae (e.g., Pausch, Crca, & Conway, 1992; Kennedy, Lane, Lilienthal, Berbaum, & Hettinger, 1992).  These symptoms, now called cybersickness (McCauley & Sharkey, 1992), could retard development of VE technology and limit its use as a training tool.

Virtual reality has grown rapidly over the past decade, yet visually induced motion sickness (VIMS), continues to affect the usability of this technology. Aside from medicine, physical hand-eye-coordination tasks have been found to be effective in mitigating symptoms of VIMS, however the need for equipment outside of virtual reality limits the usefulness of these mitigation techniques. In this study, 21 participants were sickened via a virtual obstacle course and used one of two mitigation techniques. The first, natural decay, is simply waiting outside the virtual environment (VE) for symptoms to subside; the other was a virtual peg-in-hole task, performed in the VE with a gamepad. A paired samples t-test confirmed that the virtual obstacle course induced VIMS. Both mitigation techniques significantly lessened the symptoms of VIMS, but there were no significant differences in the effectiveness of mitigation between the two techniques. A virtual mitigation method allowing continued immersion in a VE would pave the way for long-term immersion virtual reality studies, involving topics such as vigilance or training.

L'exposition à la réalité virtuelle peut déclencher un ensemble de symptômes proches de ceux du mal des transports (nausées, vertiges, sueurs) et appelé mal de la réalité virtuelle ou cybercinétose. Il est possible d'évaluer la cybercinétose à travers de nombreux outils pour connaître son impact et sa sévérité. Les salariés sont exposés en qu'utilisateurs d'applications de réalité virtuelle, notamment dans des objectifs de formation et de prévention. Ils peuvent l'être également dans le cadre d'activités récréatives. Des pistes pour limiter la cybercinétose sont énoncées.

There are major concerns about the suitability of immersive virtual reality (VR) systems (i.e., head-mounted display; HMD) to be implemented in research and clinical settings, because of the presence of nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, and instability (i.e., VR induced symptoms and effects; VRISE). Research suggests that the duration of a VR session modulates the presence and intensity of VRISE, but there are no suggestions regarding the appropriate maximum duration of VR sessions. The implementation of high-end VR HMDs in conjunction with ergonomic VR software seems to mitigate the presence of VRISE substantially. However, a brief tool does not currently exist to appraise and report both the quality of software features and VRISE intensity quantitatively. The Virtual Reality Neuroscience Questionnaire (VRNQ) was developed to assess the quality of VR software in terms of user experience, game mechanics, in-game assistance, and VRISE. Forty participants aged between 28 and 43 years were recruited (18 gamers and 22 non-gamers) for the study. They participated in 3 different VR sessions until they felt weary or discomfort and subsequently filled in the VRNQ. Our results demonstrated that VRNQ is a valid tool for assessing VR software as it has good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity. The maximum duration of VR sessions should be between 55 and 70 min when the VR software meets or exceeds the parsimonious cutoffs of the VRNQ and the users are familiarized with the VR system. Also, the gaming experience does not seem to affect how long VR sessions should last. Also, while the quality of VR software substantially modulates the maximum duration of VR sessions, age and education do not. Finally, deeper immersion, better quality of graphics and sound, and more helpful in-game instructions and prompts were found to reduce VRISE intensity. The VRNQ facilitates the brief assessment and reporting of the quality of VR software features and/or the intensity of VRISE, while its minimum and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | www.frontiersin.org 1 November 2019 | Volume 13 | Article 417

For e-commerce retailers it is crucial to present their products both informatively and attractively. Virtual reality (VR) systems represent a new marketing tool that supports customers in their decision-making process and offers an extraordinary product experience. Despite these advantages, the use of this technology for e-commerce retailers is also associated with risks, namely cybersickness. The aim of the study is to investigate the occurrence of cyber-sickness in the context of the customer's perceived enjoyment and the perceived challenge of a VR product presentation. Based on a conceptual research framework, a laboratory study with 533 participants was conducted to determine the influence of these factors on the occurrence of cybersickness. The results demonstrate that the perceived challenge has a substantially stronger impact on the occurrence of cybersickness, which can only be partially reduced by perceived enjoyment. When realizing VR applications in general and VR product presentations in particular, e-commerce retailers should therefore first minimize possible challenges instead of focusing primarily on entertainment aspects of such applications.

Clinical tools involving immersive virtual reality (VR) may bring several advantages to cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology. However, there are some technical and methodological pitfalls. The American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) and the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN) raised 8 key issues pertaining to Computerized Neuropsychological Assessment Devices. These issues pertain to: (1) the safety and effectivity; (2) the identity of the end-user; (3) the technical hardware and software features; (4) privacy and data security; (5) the psychometric properties; (6) examinee issues; (7) the use of reporting services; and (8) the reliability of the responses and results. The VR Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL) is the first immersive VR neuropsychological battery with enhanced ecological validity for the assessment of everyday cognitive functions by offering a pleasant testing experience without inducing cybersickness. The VR-EAL meets the criteria of the NAN and AACN, addresses the methodological pitfalls, and brings advantages for neuropsychological testing. However, there are still shortcomings of the VR-EAL, which should be addressed. Future iterations should strive to improve the embodiment illusion in VR-EAL and the creation of an open access VR software library should be attempted. The discussed studies demonstrate the utility of VR methods in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology.

Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) can occur via prolonged exposure to visual stimulation that generates the illusion of self-motion (vection). Not everyone is susceptible to VIMS and the neural mechanism underlying susceptibility is unclear. This study explored the differences of electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures between VIMS-susceptible and VIMS-resistant groups. Thirty-two-channel EEG data were recorded from 12 VIMSsusceptible and 15 VIMS-resistant university students while they were watching two patterns of moving dots: (1) a coherent rotation pattern (vection-inducing and potentially VIMS-provoking pattern), and (2) a random movement pattern (non-VIMS-provoking control). The VIMS-susceptible group exhibited a significantly larger increase in the parietal N2 response when exposed to the coherent rotating pattern than when exposed to control patterns. In members of the VIMS-resistant group, before vection onset, global connectivity from all other EEG electrodes to the right-temporal-parietal and to the right-central areas increased, whereas after vection onset the global connectivity to the right-frontal area reduced. Such changes were not observed in the susceptible group. Further, the increases in N2 amplitude and the identified phase synchronization index were significantly correlated with individual motion sickness susceptibility. Results suggest that VIMS susceptibility is associated with systematic impairment of dynamic cortical coordination as captured by the phase synchronization of cortical activities. Analyses of dynamic EEG signatures could be a means to unlock the neural mechanism of VIMS.

Le développement de la réalité virtuelle immersive, notamment avec la convergence anticipée du gaming et du cinéma, appelle le développement soutenu des technologies numériques ainsi qu’une compréhension précise des mécanismes de la perception sensorielle. La réalité virtuelle, pour qu’elle parvienne à nous faire croire que nous lui sommes présents physiquement, doit nous permettre de nous mouvoir en elle d’une manière qui s’accorde pleinement avec l’ensemble de nos sens. Ces éléments de réflexion fournissent une base à partir de laquelle considérer le cybermalaise en tant que fatalité, ou non, de la civilisation numérique dans la poursuite de l’art total.