This study explored the possible link between the occurrence of simulator sickness in a head mounted display (HMD) and the oculomotor variable of dark vergence posture (the distance at which the two eyes converge in darkness). We hypothesized that wearing the HMD would cause a change in dark vergence posture. We were also interested to see if there were any significant correlations between the change in dark vergence posture and simulator sickness. Participants made a total of 200 head movements during the 5 HMD trials. Participants’ dark vergence posture was measured before and after the HMD trials. Participants experienced a significant inward shift in dark vergence posture after wearing the HMD.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
DraperM. H.ViirreE. S.FurnessT. A.GawronV. J. (2001). Effects of image scale and system time delay on simulator sickness within head-coupled virtual environments. Human Factors, 43(1), 129-146.
2.
EbenholtzS.M. (1992). Motion sickness and oculomotor systems in virtual environments. Presence, 1(3), 302-305.
3.
EbenholtzS.M.CohenM.M.LinderB.J. (1994). The possible role of nystagmus in motion sickness: a hypothesis. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 65, 1031-1035.
4.
GianarosP. J.MuthE. R.MordkoffJ. T.LevineM. E.SternR. M. (2001). A questionnaire for the assessment of the multiple dimensions of motion sickness. Journal of Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 72, 115-119.
5.
HowarthP. A.CostelloP. J. (1997). The occurrence of virtual simulation sickness symptoms when an HMD was used as a personal viewing system. Displays, 18, 107-116.
6.
KennedyR. S.LaneN. E.BerbaumK. S.LilienthalM. G. (1993). Simulator sickness questionnaire: An enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 3(3), 203-220.
7.
Mon-WilliamsM.WannJ. P. (1998). Binocular virtual reality displays: When problems do and don’t occur. Human Factors, 40(1), 42-48.
8.
Mon-WilliamsM.PlooyA.Burgess-LimerickR.WannJ. (1998). Gaze angle: a possible mechanism of visual stressin virtual reality headsets. Ergonomics, 41(3), 280-285.
9.
Mon-WilliamsM.WannJ.RushtonS. (1993). Binocular vision in a virtual world: visual deficits following the wearing of a head-mounted display. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 13, 387-391.
10.
MossJ. D.MuthE. R. (in press). Characteristics of head- mounted displays and their effects on simulator sickness. Human Factors.
11.
MossJ. D. (2008). Characteristics of head mounted displays and their effects on simulator sickness (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database (UMI No. 3304065).
12.
TyrrellR. A.OwensD. A. (1988). A rapid technique to assess the resting states of the eyes and other threshold phenomena: The Modified Binary Search (MOBS). Behavior Research, Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 20(2), 137-141.
13.
ViirreE.BushD. (2002). Direct effects of virtual environments on users. In StanneyK. M. (Ed.), Handbook of virtual environments: Design, implementation, and applications (pp. 731-749). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
14.
WannJ. P.Mon-WilliamsM. (2002). Measurement of visual aftereffects following virtual environment exposure. In StanneyK. M. (Ed.), Handbook of virtual environments: Design, implementation, and applications (pp. 731-749). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
15.
WannJ. P.RushtonS.Mon-WilliamsM. (1995). Natural problems for stereoscopic depth perception in virtual environments. Vision Research, 35(19), 2731-2736.
