Postural Activity and Motion Sickness among Drivers and Passengers in a Console Video Game

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.

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Predicting vection and visually induced motion sickness based on spontaneous postural activity

Experimental Brain Research ◽

10.1007/s00221-017-5130-1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 236 (1) ◽

pp. 315-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Stephen Palmisano ◽

Benjamin Arcioni ◽

Paul J. Stapley

Keyword(s):

Motion Sickness ◽

Visually Induced Motion Sickness ◽

Postural Activity ◽

Induced Motion

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Who Are Virtual Reality Headset Owners? A Survey and Comparison of Headset Owners and Non-Owners

10.31234/osf.io/edzbk ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Kelly ◽

Lucia Cherep ◽

Alex Lim ◽

Taylor Doty ◽

Stephen B. Gilbert

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Motion Sickness ◽

Video Game ◽

Removal Rate ◽

Community Members ◽

Head Mounted Display ◽

Spatial Tasks ◽

Amazon's Mechanical Turk ◽

The University

The number of people who own a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) has reached a point where researchers can readily recruit HMD owners to participate remotely using their own equipment. However, HMD owners recruited online may differ from the university community members who typically participate in VR research. HMD owners (n=220) and non-owners (n=282) were recruited through two online work sites---Amazon's Mechanical Turk and Prolific---and an undergraduate participant pool. Participants completed a survey in which they provided demographic information and completed measures of HMD use, video game use, spatial ability, and motion sickness susceptibility. In the context of the populations sampled, the results provide 1) a characterization of HMD owners, 2) a snapshot of the most commonly owned HMDs, 3) a comparison between HMD owners and non-owners, and 4) a comparison among online workers and undergraduates. Significant gender differences were found: men reported lower motion sickness susceptibility and more video game hours than women, and men outperformed women on spatial tasks. Men comprised a greater proportion of HMD owners than non-owners, but after accounting for this imbalance, HMD owners did not differ appreciably from non-owners. Comparing across recruitment platform, male undergraduates outperformed male online workers on spatial tests, and female undergraduates played fewer video game hours than female online workers. The data removal rate was higher from Amazon compared to Prolific, possibly reflecting greater dishonesty. These results provide a description of HMD users that can inform researchers recruiting remote participants through online work sites. These results also signal a need for caution when comparing in-person VR research that primarily enrolls undergraduates to online VR research that enrolls online workers.

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A Study of Physical Fitness and Enjoyment on Virtual Running for Exergames

International Journal of Computer Games Technology ◽

10.1155/2021/6668280 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Chaowanan Khundam ◽

Frédéric Nöel

Keyword(s):

Aerobic Exercise ◽

Motion Sickness ◽

Video Game ◽

Physical Exertion ◽

Role Playing ◽

Strength Exercise ◽

Long Period ◽

Role Playing Games ◽

Short Period ◽

Solution Design

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has advanced forward in everyday life where virtual fitness is possible through physically moving around in the real world. Exergame is a video game for exercise aimed at making exercise more fun. VR exergame applies these trends together for virtual fitness with immersive game play. The VR locomotion is traveling in VR, which is commonly used in adventure role-playing games (RPG). Virtual running can be applied as a locomotion technique for VR exergames. The design of virtual running in VR exergames should be considered as an exercise for fitness and also for enjoyment. This paper proposed two motion-based locomotion techniques: ArmSwing and Squat for virtual running, which are considered as aerobic and strength exercise. These two postures were used to study how physical exertion affected players while interacting in the test scene. Usability, motion sickness, and enjoyment were assessed to analyze the differences of each posture. The results showed that motion sickness and enjoyment of ArmSwing and Squat were not different, while usability was different where ArmSwing was rated higher than Squat. The results from the interviews suggest that most players preferred aerobic exercise (ArmSwing) more than strength exercise (Squat) for a long period of exercise. However, for a short period of exercise, players preferred strength exercise more than aerobic exercise. The adventure-based RPG for exercise needs a solution design appropriate for virtual running in VR, and our results can be a guideline for developers in order to handle motion-based locomotion for VR exergames.

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