The term 'cybersickness' has been used to describe the motion sickness that is caused by virtual reality (VR) systems. Compelling scene movement in a VR system can cause symptoms of cybersickness. The aim of this experiment is to investigate the effects of scene movement along with different axes and at various speeds on the level of cybersickness.
Twelve male participants were exposed to 15-min VR simulation sessions. The sessions were divided into two types of movements; scene navigation (x, y, z -range: 250m) and scene rotation (pitch, roll, yaw -range: ±60°). And there were three levels of speed (navigation -2.7, 4.5, 6.3°/s, rotation - 10, 20, 30°/s) in each movement type. Verbal ratings of the level of nausea were taken at 5-min intervals during the sessions and sickness symptoms were also measured before and after the sessions by using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). Additionally postural stability test, in which COPs (center of pressure) of subjects were recorded for 30 seconds, was conducted.
The effect of scene movement speed and axis was found in SSQ and nausea rating, but in COPs, no significant effects exist. The effect of speed varies according to each axis, some axes were influenced by speed, others were not. The difference of level of cybersickness according to the axes was observable only at the high level of speed. No correlation was found from the test of association between SSQ scores and COPs.
The result of this experiment can be applied to the design of virtual environment having scene movement.
