Training Effects in a Sickness-Inducing Environment

Abstract

The present study was conducted to empirically examine the effect of adaptation training and transfer of training on simulation sickness by inducing graded motion sickness through the systematic distortion of the relevant characteristics of three VR devices (VE, OKN, and Real-World Entertainment Ride). It was hypothesized that for people who are highly susceptible to motion-induced sickness, the perceptual adaptation training method would transfer from a controlled laboratory environment to a real-world situation. Ten participants from a previous laboratory study were tested on a real-world virtual reality entertainment device. The results showed that subjects who had experienced adaptation training on the optokinetic OKN device had lower dizziness scores on the real world game. However, subjects who had experienced adaptation training on the VE device (HMD) did not have lower dizziness scores. This pattern of results suggests that crossover training from controlled laboratory environments to real-world environments is likely to be one-directional and platform specific. Our present findings imply a technique for mitigating sickness through pre-adaptation training in sensory re-arrangement that is feasible and has major practical implications in business, industry, the military and the private sector, where motion sickness symptoms limit previous exposure.