Effects of synchronised engine sound and vibration presentation on visually induced motion sickness

Abstract

Driving simulator usage is often accompanied by motion sickness, and techniques for its prevention are not yet established. To reduce visually induced motion sickness (VIMS), we investigated the effects of synchronised presentation of engine sounds and motorcycle vibration on VIMS. A total of 80 participants experienced a driving scene with a head-mounted display for 5 minutes with or without synchronised presentation of engine sound and vibration. The results showed that VIMS scores, as measured by the Fast Motion Sickness scale, were significantly lower in participants who experienced the driving scene with sounds and vibration than in those who experienced the scene with sounds only, vibration only, or neither. Multiple regression analyses revealed that susceptibility to VIMS consistently explained the severity of VIMS to some extent but not with perceived realism of the virtual reality (VR) scene, sex, and experiences about VR devices and vehicles. This study demonstrated that simultaneous presentation of engine sounds and vibration, which were synchronous to each other and tightly coupled with the visual flow speed, effectively reduces VIMS while experiencing motorcycling simulators. The findings not only improve practical knowledge for reducing VIMS in driving simulators but also provide evidence for understanding the mechanisms of VIMS.

Floor-vibration VR: Mitigating Cybersickness Using Whole-body Tactile Stimuli in Highly Realistic Vehicle Driving Experiences

“…Another way of mitigating cybersickness is to add stimuli to another sensory channel, providing multi-sensory stimulation that can reduce visual-vestibular conflicts [1]. For example, Sawada et al recently investigated the impact of synchronized sound and whole-body tactile feedback in a VR motorcycle driving simulator [48]. Similar to Sawada et al's work, our technique aims to mitigate cybersickness by introducing vibration-driven whole-body tactile feedback.…”

“…The cybersickness problem is real and widespread: 40-70% of VR users may experience cybersickness after around 15 minutes of exposure, and, as reported by Chang et al [6] and Sawada et al [48], some VR applications result in cybersickness symptoms 100% of the time. Addressing these symptoms is critical, but challenging as no clear causes have been identified.…”

“…Sawada et al recently reported similar work where they investigated the impact of synchronized sound and whole-body tactile feedback for reducing motion sickness in a VR motorcycle driving simulator [48]. They built a vibration module under the mock motorcycle seat, and asked users to sit and hold the handlebars during a five minute riding scenario.…”

“…We built on Sawada et al's [48] findings in three ways. We investigated vibration from a floor (which transmits the vibrations to the skeleton from the feet as well as the seat, hence whole-body tactile feedback.…”

“…We included physiological measures among our dependent variables. We extended the technique to more-general use cases by eliminating posture restrictions (holding handlebars) which Sawada et al imposed [48].…”