Motion Sickness in VR - how to test it?

[AngeloDante]

Hello
Me and my friend are planning on writing a master's thesis about motion sickness in VR, we have found a plenty of articles and other materials about the subcject but we couldn't find any information on how to properly test it.
Also, because it's a "2 man's master thesis" we need to do two different tests that would be able to "tell something more" about the topic (e.g. does the posture (sitting/standing) of user have any relationship with motion sickness in VR).
Any help would be appreciated.

[kevinw729]

There are a number of papers looking at "sim sickness" and looking at the procedures for evaluation and diagnosis. Sorry on the road so can not jump into Google and call them up, but look for some of the studies by Carnegie Mellon - especially the project Alice team.

There is a misconception going round that there is not a lot of studies into this issue - this is usually postured by those that feel uncomfortable discussing Sim Sickness and its links with VR tech. A factor why you saw so many individuals on certain forums claiming "VR sickness cured" with the launch of respective platforms.

Do not forget to include information on motion simulation and flight simulation sickness studies. Some good diagnosis material there. I spend a lot of my business looking into sim sickness issues induced by 4D motion sims and digital theater attractions, so have a lot of background in the approach. 

[Roaster]

It may sound stupid at first, but don't lose sight of the fact that sim-sickness/motion sickness has to be tested for. Not everyone is the same, and some claim to be immune.
I doubt there's a universal test that works every time. Anxiety can be a trigger.
You could see how BAC works as a catylyst.  Try the vr experience "BBC Home" on free movement.

[hoppingbunny123]

I play Assetto Corsa, and 2 things got me to feel queasy:
on the start of the driving when the car is still, I bend over my knees and that makes me queasy for some reason. And when I play with the widmovr lenses and have one lens popped out, the good eye needs the lens but it sees better without it but with no lens there's nausea.

I have a theory on why I get nausea it might help you, its the way the light is sent into the eyes, that is what the Fresnel lens fixes but in VR this can be mismatched and strains the eyes then the eyes fail and then the person has the stop and fix the darn eye problem before going like getting a fly in your eyes, or speck of dust in your eyes, while your outside kind of feeling.

The screens light is supposed to reach the eye macula at the back of the eye and do this for both eyes. When it doesn't reach the macula the eye has to bend the lens to get the light on the macula. If the lens can't bend enough then the light has a limit it can be disjointed from the macula and if this limit is past then the eye sends a message to the brain fix the eye problem and that results in feeling nausea.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. So when I bend over in the car I feel the strange way the light goes into my eye reaching my macula, and it makes me sick. Also closing the VR window in Assetto Corsa flashes the screen harshly and that makes me feel ill too, it's the bad way the light goes onto the macula I'm sure of it.

[Anonymous]

Thankfully I'm 100% immune to simulation sickness. I can run and jump around in Ethan Carter like a lunatic and do barrel rolls and loop da loops in that Aircar demo without a problem. 😄

[hoppingbunny123]

You must have perfect vision.

[Orodreth16]

The usual start of every master's thesis in any field of science is to do a literature research. If you don't know where to start, your professor/supervisor should help you. 
After reading some publications in the field, one usually gets a few ideas on which experiments would make sense and which wouldn't. 
But really, talking to your supervisor is extremely important in the early stages of your thesis. 
Good luck! 

[kevinw729]

These features may be of use to get you thinking along the right lines:
https://www.roadtovr.com/five-theories-motion-sickness-triggers-virtual-reality/
https://www.roadtovr.com/wider-fov-special-guide-virtual-reality-demonstrations/3/
Good luck.

[BeastyBaiter]

I recommend looking into how quickly people adapt. A common theme in the flight sim community is everyone feels sick the first few times they play a flight sim in VR but that problem quickly goes away. Most people seem to be able to quickly separate what their eyes see and what their body feels. I have talked to a few people who never could though and ended up going back to a monitor because of it. Looking into that is an option. On my own end, I think it took around 2-3 hours of playtime (broken up into maybe 6-7 sessions) before I stopped feeling ill in VR flight sims. Free locomotion and rotation in first person shooters took a few more hours to acclimate.

[Anonymous]

BeastyBaiter said:

I recommend looking into how quickly people adapt. A common theme in the flight sim community is everyone feels sick the first few times they play a flight sim in VR but that problem quickly goes away. Most people seem to be able to quickly separate what their eyes see and what their body feels. I have talked to a few people who never could though and ended up going back to a monitor because of it. Looking into that is an option. On my own end, I think it took around 2-3 hours of playtime (broken up into maybe 6-7 sessions) before I stopped feeling ill in VR flight sims. Free locomotion and rotation in first person shooters took a few more hours to acclimate.

Yup, there's a minority of people that are completely immune, the majority of people that can build up a resistance to sim sickness and another minority that can't build a resistance at all. I also don't get motion sickness but I don't think the two are connected.