A Survey on the Relationship between Stress, Cognitive Load, and Movement on Cybersickness

Abstract: This survey focuses on a crucial virtual reality (VR) issue that has been reported to affect roughly 40% of VR users – cybersickness. Cybersickness is similar to motion sickness but occurs with electronic screens or VR displays instead of actual movement. Cybersickness can refer to a cluster of symptoms, including nausea, eye strain, vertigo, and sweating, to name a few. Within training exercises using VR for law enforcement, we have anecdotally seen that more than 40% of our trainees report some symptom of cybersickness. Our training scenarios often include stressful and mentally charged situations, as well as include intense head and body movements for operational and tactical purposes. As such, this survey explores the scientific literature to see if there have been any reported links between stress, cognitive load, and head and body movement on reported cybersickness levels. A total of fourteen papers were surveyed. Findings were often mixed and inconclusive but pointed towards a positive relationship between cybersickness and both cognitive load and stress. On the other hand, studies looking at head movements showed a negative relationship with levels of cybersickness. It is hoped that these insights can help VR researchers develop new training protocols that can be more comfortable and accessible for all users.

Keywords: Cybersickness, virtual reality, stress, cognitive load, movements.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004991

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