Motion Sickness during Roll Motion: VR HMD View versus Monitor View

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two views on motion sickness caused by low-frequency roll motion in the laboratory. Fifteen healthy male subjects participated in the study and were exposed to 30 min of 0.25 Hz roll oscillation at an angle of rotation (+/- 5 degrees). Subjects sat on a rigid seat with one of two visual scenes each session: (i) viewing 360 degrees videos through virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) device and (ii) reading articles on a monitor in a closed cabin. Ratings of motion sickness were obtained at 1 min intervals. The mean illness ratings of subjects for all visual conditions increased over the 30 min exposure to motion. There was significantly less sickness in the HMD condition than in the monitor condition. The findings suggest a beneficial effect of the HMD view on the severity of sickness. However, the HMD view had no effect on the sickness experienced by those vulnerable to sickness caused by exposure to motion or use of VR. It was concluded that the visual activity had a significant influence on motion sickness induced by 0.25 Hz roll oscillation with an angle of rotation (+/- 5 degrees), and the applications of VR could be implemented to further reduce motion sickness.