Virtual Reality Is Sexist: But It Does Not Have to Be

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess what drives gender-based differences in the experience of cybersickness within virtual environments. In general, those who have studied cybersickness (i.e., motion sickness associated with virtual reality [VR] exposure), oftentimes report that females are more susceptible than males. As there are many individual factors that could contribute to gender differences, understanding the biggest drivers could help point to solutions. Two experiments were conducted in which males and females were exposed for 20 min to a virtual rollercoaster. In the first experiment, individual factors that may contribute to cybersickness were assessed via self-report, body measurements, and surveys. Cybersickness was measured via the simulator sickness questionnaire and physiological sensor data. Interpupillary distance (IPD) non-fit was found to be the primary driver of gender differences in cybersickness, with motion sickness susceptibility identified as a secondary driver. Females whose IPD could not be properly fit to the VR headset and had a high motion sickness history suffered the most cybersickness and did not fully recover within 1 h post exposure. A follow-on experiment demonstrated that when females could properly fit their IPD to the VR headset, they experienced cybersickness in a manner similar to males, with high cybersickness immediately upon cessation of VR exposure but recovery within 1 h post exposure. Taken together, the results suggest that gender differences in cybersickness may be largely contingent on whether or not the VR display can be fit to the IPD of the user; with a substantially greater proportion of females unable to achieve a good fit. VR displays may need to be redesigned to have a wider IPD adjustable range in order to reduce cybersickness rates, especially among females.

Variations in visual sensitivity predict motion sickness in virtual reality

“…6). A possible source of discrepancy between current results showing no effect of sex and previous reports may relate to inter-pupillary distance (IPD; [16]). Previous studies have largely relied upon a default IPD when presenting experimental stimuli.…”

“…Mismatches between device and observer IPD will inevitably introduce cue conflicts, which will lead to motion sickness. Our results suggest that tailoring the IPD of the display to the individual may reduce motion sickness -that is, ensuring that the IPD of the device is matched to the IPD of the observer will reduce some sources of cue conflicts and will likely eliminate the sex differences reported in previous work (see also [16]). The average male IPD is well-matched to the default IPD of the Oculus DK2, whereas the average female IPD is approximately 5 mm smaller than the default.…”

“…Use of default settings for individuals who deviate from the average will introduce cue conflicts into the visual display, and such deviations are of course much more likely for females. Having tailored the display to the interpupillary distance VISUAL SENSITIVITY PREDICTS MOTION SICKNESS IN VR 5 (IPD) of each individual observer, we did not find differences in motion sickness susceptibility based on sex in our sample of observers (see also [16])…”

Perceiving jittering self-motion in a field of lollipops from ages 4 to 95

“…For example, the ability of a display to generate cybersickness—assessed either through questionnaires or physiological effects—has often been identified as being a strong indicator for a sex bias. Recent work [ 27 ] suggests that the use of head mounted display technology that is better suited to male physiology may be a contributor to this. However, none of our participants reported any sensation of cybersickness, which is probably due to the short test duration (<3min) and the lack of participant-induced head motion and tracking.…”

“…However, other studies have failed to find differences in latency [ 24 ], and few studies have looked at sex differences in the perception of linear vection. There have also been both anecdotal reports of gender biases in cybersickness as well as controlled experiments [ 26 ] yet the question is not fully addressed (see [ 27 ]). In the present experiment we study path integration from visual self-motion in people over a wide age range and of both sexes using visual odometry to estimate how much visual motion is needed to evoke the perception of travelling through a specific distance [ 14 , 28 , 29 ].…”