Although rare, anomalous responses to highly immersive virtual reality (VR) displays can pose user challenges with disastrous consequences especially when operating motor vehicles/military platforms. Anomalous responses manifest frequently as unusual visual-vestibular or vestibular-spinal perceptual-motor effects to include non-veridical sensations of motion and balance disturbances. Examples include driving off the road following a long session in an aircraft simulator or prolonged balance dysfunction after strong vection experiences similar to the rare but often prolonged mal de debarquement balance issues following sea voyages. To investigate adverse effects on balance coordination associated with adaptation to a motion-based environment, subjects were seated in a 20 foot diameter rotating room that was slowly rotated while subjects performed controlled head movements in pitch and roll once per minute for periods of time varying from 10 to 30 minutes. When compared to baseline balance performance on the Equitest balance device all subjects demonstrated reduced performance scores following 20 minutes of exposure on the rotating room. Since the anomalous reactions are rare events, individual but well documented cases become important. The lead author exposed an individual to a highly compelling vection illusion as part of a demonstration of whole-field vection inside a rotating sphere. Shortly after exiting the sphere, the subject experienced balance dysfunction which was thereafter readily experienced with large field visual displays and only dissipated slowly over the following three years. Both the motion-based adaptation experiment and the controlled full-field vection experience produced visual-vestibular conflict adaptation issues that will become increasingly important especially as VR/AR devices become more visually compelling and are integrated with motion based devices or involve self-motion of the user. Based on lessons learned from adaptation to motion-based devices there are techniques that should be recommended to VR/ER software developers to reduce the frequency of potentially dangerous physiological and perceptual anomalous responses.
Keywords
AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR),FLIGHT SIMULATION,HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS,HUMAN FACTORS,SIMULATORS,SYNTHETIC ENVIRONMENT
Additional Keywords
Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness, Motion Sickness,