Keywords
AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY (AR/VR);EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES;FLIGHT SIMULATION;HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAYS;PHYSIOLOGYAbstract
Extended Reality based training devices have introduced a modality into the military and aviation training ecosystem that is known to induce motion-sickness like symptoms at a higher rate than traditional simulators or motion itself. XR specific symptoms are commonly known as Cybersickness.
The dominant hypothesis as to the cause of such sickness symptoms is Multi-Sensory Cue Expectation Conflict Theory, wherein the experience of unexpected disparities within and among senses sometimes induces negative experiences which manifest both subjectively and objectively.
Conventional cybersickness analyses largely take an outside-in approach, i.e. they analyze use cases and symptoms or reductively analyze hypothesized causal elements. By contrast, this work takes an inside-out perspective, wherein the natural operation of senses which interface to XR devices is examined and is compared to the demands placed upon them by these devices. The generalized Sensory Conflict theory is thereby concretized as comprising a specific set of conflict mechanisms.
XR devices are shown to impose a set of novel sensory demands upon their users. The analysis is based on and sourced from extensive published research. It identifies 5 interacting clusters of sensory mismatch and/or limitation inherent to today’s devices. Combined, these 5 clusters constitute a novel holistic synthesis of mechanisms underlying cybersickness. Because the understanding developed by this analysis and synthesis identifies mechanisms, it provides the basis for a substantial, well informed research agenda that goes well beyond the phenomena of sickness.
An overview of the research and application agenda enabled by this work is provided. It includes: 1) fundamental research questions, 2) applied research questions, 3) specifications needed, and 4) a framework for effectively utilizing the technology.