Improving user experience and comfort in Virtual Reality applications with smart wearables

Project Synopsis

Virtual Reality (VR) has become tremendously relevant for rehabilitation, training, research, education, and entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, many VR users experience cybersickness, a sensation that is characterized by a variety of symptoms ranging from eyestrain to dizziness or nausea. Cybersickness represents a major challenge for the use of VR in healthcare and industry, and reliable and effective methods that can prevent or minimize cybersickness are currently lacking. In the present project, we will investigate a novel solution to address the issue of cybersickness by presenting VR users with vibrotactile cues generated by actuators embedded in smart wearables that provide additional information about the direction of motion within the VR scene. While participants navigate through the VR world, we assume that vibrotactile cues will significantly increase the sensation of presence (i.e., the feeling of being there in the VR world) and consequently decrease the sensation of cybersickness. In addition, we will investigate whether these vibrotactile cues are equally effective in reducing cybersickness in younger and older adults.

Project Objective

To employ smart wearable technologies to reliably prevent or significantly reduce cybersickness in younger and older VR users. Here, vibrotactile cues generated by actuators embedded in a smart shirt/vest delivered to the torso of younger and older VR users. These vibrotactile cues will be synchronized with the visual motion of the VR scene. When users move forward, for instance, the actuators located at the users abdomen and the chest will start vibrating delivering an additional sensory cue that indicates the direction of selfmotion in the virtual scene. Thus, the vibrotactile cues are assumed to (a) increase the level of presence, (b) decrease a sensory conflict, and (c) consequently reduce cybersickness.