Virtual Environment Exposure Drop-Out Thresholds

Abstract

The use of a virtual environments (VE) for training purposes has the potential to create motion sickness-like symptoms in participants; in some, these symptoms are so severe that the user drops out of the VE training. The purpose of this study is to characterize the frequency of VE dropouts as well as the thresholds and associated symptoms experienced by those who cannot complete their VE exposure. When 245 students interacted with a VE for varying amounts of time performing a variety of tasks, 19% consistently could not complete their assigned VE exposure, even though all participants were exposed to the same virtual world and completed the same tasks. Dropouts experienced symptoms such as nausea, oculomotor disturbances, and disorientation. Insights into the potential differences between dropouts and finishers emerge via an examination of their interaction with the virtual world and suggest that controlling, streamlining, and limiting VE interaction may reduce the number of dropouts.