Abstract
The use of virtual reality (VR) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasing, and cybersickness has emerged as an important obstacle to overcome. However, the clinical factors affecting cybersickness are still not well understood. In this study, we investigated clinical predictors and adaptation effect of cybersickness during VR application in highly stressed people. Eighty-three healthy adult participants with high stress level were recruited. At baseline, we conducted psychiatric, ophthalmologic, and otologic evaluations and extracted physiological parameters. We divided the participants into two groups according to the order of exposure to VR videos with different degrees of shaking and repetitively administered the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and the Fast Motion sickness Scale (FMS). There was no significant difference in changes in the SSQ or the FMS between groups. The 40–59 years age group showed a greater increase in FMS compared to the 19–39 years age group. Smoking was negatively associated with cybersickness, and a high Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule score was positively associated with cybersickness. In conclusion, changing the intensity of shaking in VR did not affect cybersickness. While smoking was a protective factor, more expression of affect was a risk factor for cybersickness.
Highlights
The use of virtual reality (VR) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasing, and cybersickness has emerged as an important obstacle to overcome
We identified the adaptation effect according to varying degrees of shaking of VR videos and clinical predictive factors of cybersickness
When participants were exposed to two VR videos with different degrees of shaking in different orders, there was no difference in cybersickness between groups
Summary
The use of virtual reality (VR) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders is increasing, and cybersickness has emerged as an important obstacle to overcome. Cybersickness is presumed to occur due to visual-vestibular conflicts, where visual signals give information of bodily movement, but there is no actual movement during VR immersion. This sensory conflict does not match to the individual internal model of central nervous system and this may lead to the symptoms of cybersickness. When exposed to a task that rotates in VR, cybersickness increases as the rotation speed increases[26]
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