Effect of Acceleration on Simulator Sickness in Virtual Reality

With the emergence of virtual reality (VR), there have been concerns about comfort of using VR equipment while locomoting through the virtual environment. VR can simulate environments that are infinite in their spatial extent, but the tracking volume is finite. Trackpad locomotion can be used to traverse the virtual environment, but it can result in experiencing simulator sickness (Llorach et at, 2014). This present study examines three acceleration profiles: constant, linear, and polynomial and determines which value yields the least amount of simulator sickness. The purpose of the experiment is to examine the consequences of instantaneous versus gradual acceleration on simulator sickness and postural control during linear displacement. A within-subjects design was used where 26 participants experienced each acceleration profile. The order of the acceleration profiles was counterbalanced to control order effects. The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and Wii Balance Board were used to measure simulator sickness in terms of total self-reported simulator sickness severity and postural control, respectively. An effect was induced by using the acceleration profiles in terms of SSQ scores and postural sway, but the results indicated that there were no significant differences between the acceleration profiles in terms of the SSQ scores. However, there was a significant difference between polynomial acceleration and constant acceleration in terms of postural sway. There was greater postural sway through the naso-occipital axis than the inter-aural axis.Ope