The Impact of Jerk on Quality of Experience and Cybersickness in an Immersive Wheelchair Application

Abstract

This paper presents a quality of experience (QoE) and cybersickness study of an immersive and interactive wheelchair training simulator. The study had two independent groups and each group experienced the virtual wheelchair with either high or low jerk effect levels. Jerk is the rate of change of an object's acceleration over time and it is well accepted as an important consideration in dynamic immersive experiences. The QoE influencing factors (content, human and system) were considered as part of the comparison between groups. Content influencing factors were simulator configurations (high/low jerk effect) and presence levels (Igroup presence questionnaire). Human influencing factors were cognitive task load (NASA task load assessment), emotional (self-assessment manikin) and physiological response (electrodermal activity and heart rate variability). System influencing factors were device-related (immersive headset) and usability levels (system usability scale). The key focus of this work was to understand the influence of jerk on cybersickness and this was captured by using the simulator sickness questionnaire. The current findings indicate that the simulator with low jerk effect resulted in a higher arousal response and reduced simulator sickness symptoms, based on the self-assessment manikin and simulator sickness questionnaire. In addition, in terms of implicit metrics, the same group also showed more positive electrodermal activity responses and lower heart rates compared to the group that experienced the simulator with a high jerk effect. A significant correlation was found between heart rates observed during collision periods and simulator sickness scores. This correlation is moderately positive (r=0.558), which suggests a higher heart rate variability after collisions may be indicative of a higher tendency towards cybersickness.