title: The frequency of occurrence and severity of side-effects of immersion virtual reality.
abstract: Virtual reality (VR) has become increasingly well-known over the last few years. However, little is known about the side-effects of prolonged immersion in VR. This study set out to investigate the frequency of occurrence and severity of side-effects of using an immersion VR system. Out of 146 subjects, 61% reported symptoms of malaise at some point during a 20-min immersion and 10-min post-immersion period. These ranged from symptoms such as dizziness, stomach awareness, headaches, eyestrain and lightheadedness to severe nausea. These symptoms caused 5% of the subjects to withdraw from the experiment before completing their 20-min immersion period. Further research needs to be conducted that attempts to identify those factors that play a causative role in the side-effects of the VR system, and that looks for methods of reducing these side-effects.
authors.affiliation: Army Personnel Research Establishment, Ministry of Defence, Farnborough, Hants., U.K.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Regan
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D001248:Asthenopia / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004244:Dizziness / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009325:Nausea / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index