Motion sickness and postural sway in console video games.
OBJECTIVE
We tested the hypotheses that (a) participants might develop motion sickness while playing "off-the-shelf" console video games and (b) postural motion would differ between sick and well participants, prior to the onset of motion sickness.


BACKGROUND
There have been many anecdotal reports of motion sickness among people who play console video games (e.g., Xbox, PlayStation).


METHODS
Participants (40 undergraduate students) played a game continuously for up to 50 min while standing or sitting. We varied the distance to the display screen (and, consequently, the visual angle of the display).


RESULTS
Across conditions, the incidence of motion sickness ranged from 42% to 56%; incidence did not differ across conditions. During game play, head and torso motion differed between sick and well participants prior to the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that console video games carry a significant risk of motion sickness.


CONCLUSIONS
Potential applications of this research include changes in the design of console video games and recommendations for how such systems should be used.
School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. tas@umn.edu
Thomas A
TA
Stoffregen
Elise
E
Faugloire
Ken
K
Yoshida
Moira B
MB
Flanagan
Omar
O
Merhi
D000328:Adult; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D009068:Movement; D004856:Postural Balance; D011187:Posture; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D018910:Video Games