A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on The Use of Tactile Stimulation in Vection Research

Abstract

Vection is classically defined as the illusory perception of self-motion induced via visual stimuli. The utility of vection research lies in its potential to enhance simulation fidelity as measured through presence and reduce the probability that motion sickness symptoms occur through the identification of differences and similarities in physiological responses to vection and motion sickness. Recent studies have shown a multimodal interaction of various sensory systems in facilitating vection. Moreover, the utility of co-stimulating some of these sensory systems along with the presentation of visual stimuli have been reviewed. However, a review on the tactile mediation of vection appears to be missing from literature. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the current methodologies, and utility of, tactile stimulation in vection research. We searched for articles through EBSCOHost, Scopus and Web of Science. Only studies were included wherein an experiment on the effect of tactile stimulation on human self-motion perception was detailed. Twenty-three studies were obtained and distilled in tabular form. The studies reviewed presented a strong variability in the a-priori definition of vection, methodological inhomogeneity, varying approaches to the assessment of subjective vection measures and a lack of objective measures. We discuss the need for more qualitative research to reduce methodological inhomogenities, recommend future research in tactile-mediated vection to investigate stimulation to the torso, and suggest further investigation into the utility of concurrently presenting different forms of tactile stimulation.

Enhanced vection in older adults: Evidence for age-related effects in multisensory vection experiences

“…Additionally, we found main effects of auditory and tactile cues suggesting that the presence of these cues increased the vection sensation. These results are consistent with our previous work (Murovec et al, 2021) as well as the larger body of multisensory vection literature (Kooijman et al, 2021;Väljamäe, 2009). These findings support the general idea that vection is a multisensory phenomenon and can be facilitated by the addition of non-visual sensory cues to visual stimuli (Hettinger et al, 2014;Palmisano et al, 2015).…”

You spin me right round, baby, right round: Examining the Impact of Multi-Sensory Self-Motion Cues on Motion Sickness During a VR Reading Task

“…Visual motion is not the only sensory cue that can elicit a sensation of vection; auditory and tactile cues can also be used [22,55,60,94,97,99,100,117,119,120], with the sensation being enhanced if multiple sensory systems receive congruent self-motion information at the same time [6,94,97,103,104,108]. For our study, we used visual and auditory vection cues presented both independently and in combination.…”