Immersive visual technologies and human health

Abstract

The fast-phased adoption of modern immersive visual technologies in many fields calls for an assessment of potential costs and benefits from the point of view of human health. Humans often reported feelings of discomfort in the experience of virtual reality (VR), however, it is still not known what may promote this uncomfortable symptomatology. In the framework of research on human-computer interaction, part of the discomfort derived from the use of immersive visual technologies has been attribute to technological factors. Among the most cited technological limitations is the vergence-accommodation conflict that human eyes are experiencing in displays delivering 3D images, and that have been connected to feelings of discomfort and tiredness. In the present investigation we attempt to briefly review the most important pieces of evidence presented in the literature, on the possible technological limitation of immersive visual technologies and its possible effects on human health and the way those effects were analyzed, and the ill symptomologies were assessed. Furthermore, possible solutions for reducing negative effects of the use of 3D media were shortly analyzed, and new perspective on the issue reviewed. Finally, we will attempt to assess the way immersive visual technology can be used in the medical field with the aim to improve human health. CCS CONCEPTS• Social and professional topics; • User characteristics;

A narrative review of immersive virtual reality’s ergonomics and risks at the workplace: cybersickness, visual fatigue, muscular fatigue, acute stress, and mental overload

“…Cybersickness should not be used to encompass all VRISE. Peers abundantly tackled cybersickness within the past three years (Gallagher and Ferrè 2018;Nesbitt and Nalivaiko 2018;Weech et al 2018;Descheneaux et al 2020;Chang et al 2020;Saredakis et al 2020;Stanney et al 2020b;Grassini and Laumann 2021;Howard and Van Zandt 2021;Rebenitsch and Owen 2021). The uncertainty around this concept is partly due to theoretical challenges and the widely varying VR environments.…”

“…Virtual environment creators and head-mounted display (HMD) manufacturers do not seem to consider human factors/ergonomics enough in their design processes (Dehghani et al 2021;Saghafian et al 2021;Szopa and Soares 2021). However, virtual reality-induced symptoms and effects (VRISE) have been documented for more than thirty years (Kennedy et al 1993;Keller and Colucci 1998;Cobb et al 1999;Nichols 1999;Nichols and Patel 2002;Sharples et al 2008;Melzer et al 2009;Fuchs 2017Fuchs , 2018Souchet 2020;Grassini and Laumann 2021).…”

Using electrophysiological measures to evaluate the sense of presence in immersive virtual environments: An event‐related potential study

“…Finally, the role of simulator sickness and other types of discomfort mediated by immersive HMDs (see e.g., Grassini & Laumann, 2021) were not investigated or analyzed in the present study. These phenomena may, however, have an influence on attentional and cognitive processes, and therefore they could represent a confounding factor.…”

Virtual Reality Assisted Non-Pharmacological Treatments in Chronic Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Quantitative Meta-Analysis

“…The use of modern technological solutions for therapeutic purposes can overcome these barriers by addition motivational components and involvement in therapy for some users. Virtual reality (VR) is a solution that is gaining attention as non-pharmaceutical therapy for pain management [ 15 ]. VR entertainment and interactive aspects and feedback can boost adherence to activities [ 16 ], and immersive VR systems have been shown to provide pain distraction methods that provide highly engaging external stimuli with the aim to reduce pain by directing user attention to a virtualized environment [ 17 , 18 ].…”