Abstract
Two issues are increasingly of interest in the scientific literature regarding unwanted virtual reality (VR) induced side effects: (1) whether the latent structure of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) is comprised of two or three factors, and (2) if the SSQ measures symptoms of anxiety that can be misattributed to unwanted negative side effects induced by immersions in VR. Study 1 was conducted with a sample of 876 participants. A confirmatory factor analysis clearly supported a two-factor model composed of nausea and oculomotor symptoms instead of the 3-factor structure observed in simulators. To tease-out symptoms of anxiety from unwanted negative side effects induced by immersions in VR, Study 2 was conducted with 88 participants who were administered the Trier Stress Social Test in groups without being immersed in VR. A Spearman correlation showed that 11 out of 16 side effects correlated significantly with anxiety. A factor analysis revealed that items measuring general discomfort, difficulty concentrating, sweating, nausea, and vertigo loaded significantly on the anxiety factor comprised of items from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Finally, a multiple regression indicated that the items measuring general discomfort and difficulty concentrating significantly predicted increases in anxiety. The overall results support the notion that side effects associated with immersions in VR consist mostly of a nausea and an oculomotor latent structure and that a few items are confounding anxiety and cybersickness. The data support the suggestion to revise the scoring procedures of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire when using this instrument with immersions in VR.
Highlights
Unwanted negative side effects induced by an immersion in virtual reality (VR) are not uncommon
Two research questions were addressed about the factor structure of the Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ): [1] Can the three-factor structure found by Kennedy et al [13] be replicated in a large sample of non-military adults immersed in VR? and [2] Would a factor analysis confirm the adequacy of a two-factor solution? To this end, a FrenchCanadian translation of the 16-item SSQ was used [33]
As pointed out by Lawson et al [3], military personnel may be less likely to experience negative side effects since they are more likely to be frequently involved in challenging vehicle motion, in better physical shape, or able to remain immersed in VR longer despite feeling unwanted effects
Summary
Unwanted negative side effects induced by an immersion in virtual reality (VR) are not uncommon. The other participants reported side effects that, usually, were mild, occurred within the first 15 min of the immersion, and subsided within 10 min after the immersion. These side effects are often referred to in the popular literature as cybersickness, people experiencing them are not sick. The frequency of other symptoms appeared less documented but included oculomotor problems These findings are consistent with Cobb et al [1], Nichols and Patel [5], and Stanney and Kennedy [6]. Several more recent studies [8,9,10,11] and a systematic review [12] confirmed that many participants experience unwanted negative side effects induced by immersions in VR, even when current generation VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) are used
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