Effects of physical driving experience on body movement and motion sickness among passengers in a virtual vehicle

Motion sickness is common in virtual environments. The risk of motion sickness varies widely between individuals and across situations. The subjective experience of motion sickness often is preceded by distinctive patterns of movement in the control of head and body posture. Previous research has documented reliable sex differences in the kinematics of postural activity, as well as reliable differences in postural activity between participants who were in control of a virtual vehicle and participants who were not. We asked whether postural precursors of motion sickness would simultaneously be influenced by individual and situational factors. We analyzed movement of the head and torso while seated participants were exposed to a driving video game presented through a head-mounted display. Half of the participants were women, and half were men. Using a yoked-control design, half of the participants controlled the virtual vehicle (Drivers), whereas half watched previously recorded vehicle trajectories (Passengers). The maximum exposure duration was 15 min, but participants were instructed to discontinue participation immediately if they experienced any symptoms of motion sickness, however mild. We analyzed movement kinematics not only in terms of sex and vehicle control but also in terms of participants who did or did not report motion sickness. Movement differed between Drivers and Passengers, in terms of both the spatial magnitude and multifractality of movement. The spatial magnitude of movement was simultaneously influenced by sex (men vs. women) and vehicle control (Drivers vs. Passengers). In addition, in statistically significant interactions, we identified postural precursors of motion sickness that differed between Drivers and Passengers and, separately, between Drivers and Passengers as a function of sex. The results are consistent with a prediction of the postural instability theory of motion sickness etiology and shed new light on the multifactorial origins of postural precursors of motion sickness in virtual environments.

Download Full-text

Multimodal and Motor Influences on Orientation: Implications for Adapting to Weightless and Virtual Environments1

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-1992-2405 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 307-322

Author(s):

James R. Lackner

Keyword(s):

Virtual Environments ◽

Motion Sickness ◽

Sensory Feedback ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Body Movement ◽

Sensory Information ◽

The Body ◽

Space Travel ◽

Sensory Motor ◽

Motor Information

Human sensory-motor control and orientation involve the correlation of sensory information from many modalities with motor information about ongoing patterns of voluntary and reflexive activation of the body musculature. The vestibular system represents only one of the acceleration-sensitive receptor systems of the body conveying spatial information. Touch- and pressure-dependent receptors, somatosensory and interoceptive, as well as proprioceptive receptors contribute, along with visual and auditory signals specifying relative motion between self and surround. Control of body movement and orientation is dynamically adapted to the 1G force background of Earth. Exposure to non-1G environments such as in space travel produces a variety of sensory-motor disturbances, and often motion sickness, until adaptation is achieved. Exposure to virtual environments in which body movements are not accompanied by normal patterns of inertial and sensory feedback can also lead to control errors and elicit motion sickness.

Download Full-text