Reducing Virtual Reality Sickness for Cyclists in VR Bicycle Simulators

Andrii Matviienko, Florian Müller, Marcel Zickler, Lisa Alina Gasche, Julia Abels, Till Steinert, Max Mühlhäuser

CHI 2022

Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

TL;DR

What we did: We conducted two controlled lab experiments to evaluate steering methods and countermeasures aimed at reducing virtual reality sickness in bicycle simulators.

What we found: We found that using handlebar steering resulted in the lowest levels of virtual reality sickness, while airflow was identified as the most effective countermeasure across various cycling trajectories.

Takeaway: Our research highlights the importance of steering design and external countermeasures, particularly airflow, in creating more enjoyable and less sickness-inducing virtual reality cycling experiences.

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) bicycle simulations aim to recreate the feeling of riding a bicycle and are commonly used in many application areas. However, current solutions still create mismatches between the visuals and physical movement, which causes VR sickness and diminishes the cycling experience. To reduce VR sickness in bicycle simulators, we conducted two controlled lab experiments addressing two main causes of VR sickness: (1) steering methods and (2) cycling trajectory. In the first experiment (N = 18) we compared handlebar, HMD, and upper-body steering methods. In the second experiment (N = 24) we explored three types of movement in VR (1D, 2D, and 3D trajectories) and three countermeasures (airflow, vibration, and dynamic Field-of-View) to reduce VR sickness. We found that handlebar steering leads to the lowest VR sickness without decreasing cycling performance and airflow suggests to be the most promising method to reduce VR sickness for all three types of trajectories.

Abstract

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