Forum Discussion
Simulator Sickness Research (Game & Questionnaire)
Hey guys,
We are four students at IT University of Copenhagen currently working on our post-grad Master Thesis regarding Motion Sickness in Virtual Environments.
Why are we testing?
While the companies such as the Oculus Rift are doing their best to limit the occurrence of simulator sickness it is still an issue. Our goal with our thesis is to see how game developers can help reduce this occurrence which leaves people feeling dizzy, confused, or nauseated. More specifically we are looking at what developers should avoid when creating games for virtual reality in order to limit this occurrence yet still take advantage of the full effect of virtual reality.
The variables we have chosen have basis in available literature and prior user tests, but due to time limitations not all variables are researched in our study.
What have we already done?
Prior to this test we have tested just above 50 people physically, measuring everything from blood pressure, pulse, electrodermal activity and the test subjects’ own experience of various virtual reality situations. All this adds to up a list of what we predict is okay to use, acceptable, bad and plain horrible. This information we would like to have verified by a larger audience.
Where do you come in?
In order to get as much data as possible we want to test on a lot more people and have therefore created a test meant for online use. Because of the purpose of the test this means, that the test includes a built-in questionnaire which allows us to isolate the individual variables.
The test itself takes about 15 minutes, which includes the questionnaires.
We would love and really appreciate if you would download, “play” and help us out!
You are more than welcome to comment below if you have any issues with the game or just have a comment in general, as any data could be relevant for our result.
Download
https://mega.co.nz/#!qEE2XboB!EFSFYH6uVJDOtvcM7uTxIlaAgbJ31xJm9jLM2NePyzk
Q/A
TL;DR
Help us test various simulator sickness inducting variables in this game that we've made.
EDIT
Here is an image gallery of the project:
http://imgur.com/a/95PpM
We are four students at IT University of Copenhagen currently working on our post-grad Master Thesis regarding Motion Sickness in Virtual Environments.
Why are we testing?
While the companies such as the Oculus Rift are doing their best to limit the occurrence of simulator sickness it is still an issue. Our goal with our thesis is to see how game developers can help reduce this occurrence which leaves people feeling dizzy, confused, or nauseated. More specifically we are looking at what developers should avoid when creating games for virtual reality in order to limit this occurrence yet still take advantage of the full effect of virtual reality.
The variables we have chosen have basis in available literature and prior user tests, but due to time limitations not all variables are researched in our study.
What have we already done?
Prior to this test we have tested just above 50 people physically, measuring everything from blood pressure, pulse, electrodermal activity and the test subjects’ own experience of various virtual reality situations. All this adds to up a list of what we predict is okay to use, acceptable, bad and plain horrible. This information we would like to have verified by a larger audience.
Where do you come in?
In order to get as much data as possible we want to test on a lot more people and have therefore created a test meant for online use. Because of the purpose of the test this means, that the test includes a built-in questionnaire which allows us to isolate the individual variables.
The test itself takes about 15 minutes, which includes the questionnaires.
We would love and really appreciate if you would download, “play” and help us out!
You are more than welcome to comment below if you have any issues with the game or just have a comment in general, as any data could be relevant for our result.
Download
https://mega.co.nz/#!qEE2XboB!EFSFYH6uVJDOtvcM7uTxIlaAgbJ31xJm9jLM2NePyzk
Q/A
What happens during the test?
During the test you will be placed in a sci-fi environment and experience four environments; the engine room, the high-speed hallway, gravity testing room, and the collision testing room.
Do you collect information from me?
The only information we collect, is your frames per second, the head-movement from the Oculus Rift, the answers to the questionnaires, and the time you take to complete the test.
What do I need to run it?
The game is not optimized, but if you are able to run any other Oculus Rift game, then you should be able to run this as well. If you have troubles with frame rate or other graphical issues, you can try lowering the graphical settings or in worst case post here and we will see if we can fix it.
Is it necessary to answer the questionnaire?
It is necessary to answer the questionnaires between each environment, but the initial personal questions can be skipped. We would appreciate if you could answer all of the questions truthfully and reflective of how you are feeling.
TL;DR
Help us test various simulator sickness inducting variables in this game that we've made.
EDIT
Here is an image gallery of the project:
http://imgur.com/a/95PpM
9 Replies
- Cool, nicely done test. Had a little trouble interpreting "fullness of head" as a question, however. I'm just not familiar with this phrase.
"SpocksBeer" wrote:
Cool, nicely done test. Had a little trouble interpreting "fullness of head" as a question, however. I'm just not familiar with this phrase.
Thank you, we put a lot of work into this project, even though its short.
We define "fullness of head" as when you have a lot on your mind, like work, exams and other things.- Done. ;) Same as said before, I did not understand the "fullness of head" thing. If this is something like headache but not painful then I had that slightly instead of none for every parts. :oops: Otherwise the immersion is pretty good, I was not aware of my physical environnement anymore. :D
EDIT: Ok, so for "fullness of head" it was correctly "none" since I was in the project. I had nothing else in my mind. :P "Crismis" wrote:
"SpocksBeer" wrote:
Cool, nicely done test. Had a little trouble interpreting "fullness of head" as a question, however. I'm just not familiar with this phrase.
Thank you, we put a lot of work into this project, even though its short.
We define "fullness of head" as when you have a lot on your mind, like work, exams and other things.
Ah I see. My answers stand, then.
Would that make the question of "stomach awareness" about being, for example, particularly hungry or feeling like you've eaten too much?"SpocksBeer" wrote:
"Crismis" wrote:
...
Ah I see. My answers stand, then.
Would that make the question of "stomach awareness" about being, for example, particularly hungry or feeling like you've eaten too much?
Well, that is one of the ways you can define stomach awareness. Other than your examples, nausea is also a way that can cause you to be aware of your stomach (from experience). Basically, how much are you aware of your stomach.- >>We are four students at IT University of Copenhagen currently working on our post-grad Master Thesis regarding >>Motion Sickness in Virtual Environments.
Hello guys,
I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. We've just started a project where we try to assess some new biomarkers of nausea/motion sickness induced by VR. Would be most interested to hear more about your research; have you published or presented anything already?
Best regards,
A/Prof Eugene Nalivaiko - viewtopic.php?f=26&t=7577&hilit=boyd
Even though Cyber locked it, here is a good thread on Simulator Sickness, Nausea, relating to females, basically men (or high testosterone individuals) seem to have better success in parallax stuff, whereas women (or different hormone beings) seem to do better in shape from shading. Please help add to the body of research, Palmer seemed to Dismiss out of hand similar memes Kevin Williams had brought up at steam dev days relating to this Female issue of HMD's and simulator sickness - I believe it was relating to Asians or Asian females (making palmer look bad from my perspective, thinking he knows it all when he does not and tom forsyth had to mend that situation later that afternoon with Kevin and correct palmer's naïve mistakes) - nicely done test guys :)
- Thank you guys so much. We really appreciate all the input and interest.
"nali0001" wrote:
>>We are four students at IT University of Copenhagen currently working on our post-grad Master Thesis regarding >>Motion Sickness in Virtual Environments.
Hello guys,
I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. We've just started a project where we try to assess some new biomarkers of nausea/motion sickness induced by VR. Would be most interested to hear more about your research; have you published or presented anything already?
Best regards,
A/Prof Eugene Nalivaiko
We have not yet published anything. The deadline for this project is in the beginning of June. There is not much more to it than what we have already written in the introductory post, but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.
