title: Profiling subjective symptoms and autonomic changes associated with cybersickness.
abstract: Our aim was to expand knowledge of cybersickness - a subtype of motion sickness provoked by immersion into a moving computer-generated virtual reality. Fourteen healthy subjects experienced a 15-min rollercoaster ride presented via a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift), for 3 consecutive days. Heart rate, respiration, finger and forehead skin conductance were measured during the experiment; this was complemented by a subjective nausea rating during the ride and by Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire before, immediately after and then 1, 2 and 3h post-ride. Physiological measurements were analysed in three dimensions: ride time, association with subjective nausea rating and experimental day. Forehead, and to a lesser extent finger phasic skin conductance activity showed a correlation with the reported nausea ratings, while alteration in other measured parameters were mostly related to autonomic arousal during the virtual ride onset. A significant habituation was observed in subjective symptom scores and in the duration of tolerated provocation. The latter increased from 7.0±1.3min on the first day to 12.0±2.5min on the third day (p<0.05); this was associated with a reduced slope of nausea rise from 1.3±0.3units/min on the first to 0.7±0.1units/min on the third day (p<0.01). Furthermore, habituation with repetitive exposure was also determined in the total symptom score post-ride: it fell from 1.6±0.1 on the first day to 1.2±0.1 on the third (p<0.001). We conclude that phasic changes of skin conductance on the forehead could be used to objectively quantify nausea; and that repetitive exposure to provocative VR content results in habituation.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2300, Australia.
authors.forename: Alireza Mazloumi
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gavgani
authors.affiliation: School of Design Communication and IT, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2300, Australia.
authors.forename: Keith V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Nesbitt
authors.affiliation: School of Design Communication and IT, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2300, Australia.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Blackmore
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2300, Australia. Electronic address: Eugene.nalivaiko@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nalivaiko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000503:physiopathology; D005546:Forehead / Q000503:physiopathology; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009041:Motion Sickness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012119:Respiration; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cybersickness; Habituation; Motion sickness; Nausea; Skin conductance