I Am The Passenger: How Visual Motion Cues Can Influence Sickness For In-Car VR

This paper explores the use of VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) in-car and in-motion for the first time. Immersive HMDs are becoming everyday consumer items and, as they offer new possibilities for entertainment and productivity, people will want to use them during travel in, for example, autonomous cars. However, their use is confounded by motion sickness caused in-part by the restricted visual perception of motion conflicting with physically perceived vehicle motion (accelerations/rotations detected by the vestibular system). Whilst VR HMDs restrict visual perception of motion, they could also render it virtually, potentially alleviating sensory conflict. To study this problem, we conducted the first on-road and in motion study to systematically investigate the effects of various visual presentations of the real-world motion of a car on the sickness and immersion of VR HMD wearing passengers. We established new baselines for VR in-car motion sickness, and found that there is no one best presentation with respect to balancing sickness and immersion. Instead, user preferences suggest different solutions are required for differently susceptible users to provide usable VR in-car. This work provides formative insights for VR designers and an entry point for further research into enabling use of VR HMDs, and the rich experiences they offer, when travelling

Degraded reality: Using VR/AR to simulate visual impairments

The effects of eye disease cannot be depicted accurately using traditional media. Consequently, public understanding of eye disease is often poor. We present a VR/AR system for simulating common visual impairments, including disability glare, spatial distortions (Metamorphopsia), the selective blurring and filling-in of information across the visual field, and color vision deficits. Unlike most existing simulators, the simulations are informed by patients' self-reported symptoms, can be quantitatively manipulated to provide custom disease profiles, and support gaze-contingent presentation (i.e., when using a VR/AR headset that contains eye-tracking technology, such as the Fove0). Such a simulator could be used as a teaching/empathy aid, or as a tool for evaluating the accessibility of new products and environments

Postural instability in an immersive Virtual Reality adapts with repetition and includes directional and gender specific effects

The ability to handle sensory conflicts and use the most appropriate sensory information is vital for successful recovery of human postural control after injury. The objective was to determine if virtual reality (VR) could provide a vehicle for sensory training, and determine the temporal and spatial nature of such adaptive changes. Twenty healthy subjects participated in the study (10 females). The subjects watched a 90-second VR simulation of railroad (rollercoaster) motion in mountainous terrain during five repeated simulations, while standing on a force platform that recorded their stability. The immediate response to watching the VR movie was an increased level of postural instability. Repeatedly watching the same VR movie significantly reduced both the anteroposterior (62%, p < 0.001) and lateral (47%, p = 0.001) energy used. However, females adapted more slowly to the VR stimuli as reflected by higher use of total (p = 0.007), low frequency (p = 0.027) and high frequency (p = 0.026) energy. Healthy subjects can significantly adapt to a multidirectional, provocative, visual environment after 4–5 repeated sessions of VR. Consequently, VR technology might be an effective tool for rehabilitation involving visual desensitisation. However, some females may require more training sessions to achieve effects with VR

Differentiation of the Causal Characteristics and Influences of Virtual Reality and the Effects on Learning at a Science Exhibit

Within the context of the informal science center, exhibits are the main interface for public learning. Essential to the success of a science center is how well exhibits model effective strategies for learning. Virtual Reality (VR) technology with its flexible, adaptive, multimedia, and immersive-learning capabilities is emerging for use by science centers in exhibits; however, research on learning in virtual environments at exhibits is scarce. To support the future development of VR science exhibits it is critical to investigate VR\u27s pedagogical value and effects on science learning. Research investigated the Smoke & Mirrors VR exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, California. Inquiry focused on the interplay between elements of the exhibit\u27s design, assessing the separate and interactive effects of visual imagery, moving images, sound, narration, and interactive tools to differentiate the causal characteristics and influences that enhanced and detracted from learning. Case study methodology was employed utilizing visitor observations and interviews with 14 participants. Findings indicated that realistic visual elements with text were the primary sources of content learning; however, positive results were limited to only a few participants. High cognitive load due to interactive tools; instructional design; and movement of visual images were found to be significant detracting characteristics of participant learning. Other characteristics and influences of VR were also found that directly effected learning. Research results will inform the forthcoming design of a new VR exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and to the design and development of future VR exhibits at informal science centers. A prior brief mixed-methods evaluation of Smoke & Mirrors was conducted in 2003, contributing background to the study and its future implications and strategies

Gender-Specific Effects on Muscle Activation During Incline Treadmill Walking: A Virtual Perturbation Study For Future Astronauts

Introduction Microgravity-induced muscle atrophy is a critical issue for astronauts in spaceflight [1]. To overcome neuromuscular deconditioning, combining virtual reality (VR) with treadmill training protocol could be a promising countermeasure for astronauts to enhance muscle activities and maximize the training effect [2]. Our previous study [3] found the presence of visual perturbation significantly increased muscle activation while walking on incline treadmill, compared with no visual perturbation; surprisingly, we found females had more pronounced muscle responses than males. Based upon these findings, this study aimed to investigate the effects of different visual rotation speeds and different types of visual perturbation on muscle activation during incline treadmill walking, and how those effects were different between males and females. Methods A total of 20 healthy young adults (10 males and 10 females) participated this study. The normal VR scene was a virtual moving corridor, and its direction and speed were in accordance with the walking speed of the participant on the 9-degree incline treadmill; the participant would feel like walking through an endless corridor. Visual perturbation was created by adding clockwise rotation of the VR in constant or random angular speed. For the constant speed rotation, there were four different rotation speeds at 10°/s, 20°/s, 30°/s, and 60°/s respectively. For the random speed rotation, the rotation speed would change every 360° and was randomly selected at the range of 10°/s and 60°/s. The participant walked in each condition for two minutes. The wireless electromyography sensors were placed at the vastus lateralis (VL), medial hamstring (MH), tibialis anteriors (TA) and lateral gastrocnemius (LG) of the right leg. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was applied, with the RMS values of VL, MH, TA and LG as the four dependent variables. The analysis was conducted separately for the total gait cycle, and during stance phase and swing phase. Results Increased visual rotation speed of visual perturbation induced higher VL and LG activation; gender had different responses to increased visual rotation speed in VL. The effect of different types of visual perturbation was more pronounced in female, as random speed rotation visual perturbation induced higher MH activation than not only normal VR but also constant speed rotation visual perturbation. Conclusion Integrating visual perturbation into regular treadmill exercise could magnify the training effects to reduce muscle deconditioning for astronauts during spaceflight. The visual rotation speed of visual perturbation should be taken into consideration based on the expected outcome of training. The gender effects revealed different muscle responses between males and females to visual perturbation, which need to be considered and furtherly explored to identify the optimal training countermeasure for astronauts

Exploring Adaptation-Based Techniques to Create Comfortable Virtual Reality Experiences

Virtual reality (VR) is transitioning from research to widespread consumer use. However, VR sickness - a type of motion sickness associated with VR usage - is believed to be a major impediment to the mass adoption of VR and it is estimatedto affect more than two-thirds of VR users. Previous research also shows that VR sickness affects some vulnerable groups, such as women, more severely than other groups. Although several strategies have been developed to mitigate VR sickness, most of them are not equally effective for all users since the effectiveness of any particular strategy varies across individuals. There are also concerns that some widely used VR sickness mitigation strategies, such as field-of-view (FOV) restriction, may have negative consequences on women. This thesis aims: 1) to provide theoretical understanding of the aspects of VR systems that cause VR sickness to affect some user more than others, with focus on sex differences, and 2) to develop adaptation-based strategies that could mitigate VR sickness for all VR users irrespective of their differences.Towards these goals, I first investigate the effectiveness of FOV restriction in reducing VR sickness across genders, and it’s effects on women’s spatial navigation ability. Then, based on findings from the first set of studies, I develop andempirically evaluate a novel adaptive eye gaze-contingent FOV restrictor that allows users to have a wider visual field while blocking their peripheral FOV. The wider visual field would be beneficial for women’s spatial navigation performance in virtual environments. Finally, I provide a novel standardized adaptation-based training paradigm that supplements existing VR sickness mitigation techniques by allowing the user to best prepare themselves for continued VR use. Evaluation of this strategy suggests that it could reduce and even eliminate VR sickness in susceptible individuals irrespective of their individual differences

3D Modeling and Computer Graphics in Virtual Reality

In the era of digital information technologies, 3D modeling and computer graphics techniques not only apply to the development of virtual models for computer simulation, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, etc., but also they can be applied in many different applications in virtual reality (VR). However, the computer graphics effect and visual realism are usually the trade-offs with the real-time and realistic interaction in VR. In this book chapter, we would like to review the general flow of the VR program development process, and the recent 3D modeling and texture painting techniques used in VR. On the other hand, we would introduce some of the key 3D modeling and computer graphics techniques that can be applied in VR in order to enhance the speed of interaction. The key techniques including smoothing techniques and mesh editing modifiers are not only useful for the designers to learn the 3D modeling process, but it also helps to create less complex mesh models maintaining good visual effects. The techniques are particularly important in the development of 3D models to satisfy the demanding computation requirement of real-time interaction in VR program