Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games pp 1–6Cite as

Cybersickness

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Simulator sickness

Definitions

Cybersickness is an uncomfortable side effect experienced by users of immersive interfaces commonly used for Virtual Reality. It is associated with symptoms such as nausea, postural instability, disorientation, headaches, eye-strain, and tiredness.

Cybersickness

Cybersickness is a relatively common, unwanted side effect of immersive interfaces that causes a broad range of unpleasant symptoms such as nausea, headaches, disorientation, and tiredness. More serious symptoms, such as postural instability, although less common, can also result from prolonged exposure to virtual interfaces.

Cybersickness is typically experienced by stationary users that perceive that they are moving in a virtual scene. This stationary reality and the associated compelling experience of self-motion is believed to underlie the condition (Webb and Griffin 2003). By contrast, simulator sickness was first found in pilots who underwent extended training in flight simulators...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Ali, S.: Measuring flow complexity in videos. In: Proceedings of the 2013 I.E. International Conference on Computer Video, 1097–1104, IEEE (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, S.L., Wolffsohn, J.S., McBrien, N.A.: The development of a symptom questionnaire for assessing virtual reality viewing using a head-mounted display. Optom. Vis. Sci. 82(3), 168–176 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchemin, S.S., Barron, J.L.: The computation of optical flow. ACM Comput. Surv. 27(3), 433–466 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard, S., Robillard, G., Renaud, P., Bernier, F.: Exploring new dimensions in the assessment of virtual reality induced side effects. J. Comput. Inf. Technol. 1(3), 20–32 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruck, S., Watters, P.A.: The factor structure of cybersickness. Displays. 32(4), 153–158 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, S., Nichols, S., Ramsey, A., Wilson, J.: Virtual reality-induced symptoms and effects (VRISE). Presence Teleop. Virt. 8(2), 169–186 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowings, P.S., Suter, S., Toscano, W.B., Kamiya, J., Naifeh, K.: General autonomic components of motion sickness. Psychophysiology. 23(5), 542–551 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, S., Nesbitt, K., Nalivaiko, E.: A systematic review of cybersickness. In: Proceedings of Interactive Entertainment (IE2014), Newcastle, Australia. ACM, New York (2014). https://doi.org/10.1145/2677758.2677780

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, S., Nesbitt, K., Nalivaiko, E.: Comparing the onset of cybersickness using the Oculus Rift and two virtual roller coasters. In: Pisan, Y., Nesbitt, K. Blackmore, K. (eds.) Proceedings of the 11th Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment (IE 2015) Sydney, Australia. CRPIT, 167, ACS, 3–14 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennison, M.S., Wisti, A.Z., D’Zmura, M.: Use of physiological signals to predict cybersickness. Displays. 44, 42–52 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durlach, N.I., Mavor, A.S.: Virtual Reality: Scientific and Technological Challenges. National Academies Press, Washington, DC (1994). https://doi.org/10.17226/4761

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavgani, A.M., Nesbitt, K.V., Blackmore, K.L., Nalivaiko, E.: Profiling subjective symptoms and autonomic changes associated with cybersickness. Auton. Neurosci. 203, 41–50 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gianaros, P.J., Muth, E.R., Mordkoff, J.T., Levine, M.E., Stern, R.: A questionnaire for the assessment of the multiple dimensions of motion sickness. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 72(2), 115–119 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • Golding, J.F.: Motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire revised and its relationship to other forms of sickness. Brain Res. Bull. 47, 507–516 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graybiel, A., Wood, C.D., Miller, E.F., Cramer, D.B.: Diagnostic criteria for grading the severity of acute motion sickness. Aerosp. Med. Res Lab. 39, 453–455 (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardacre, L.E., Kennedy, P.: Some issues in the development of a motion sickness questionnaire for flight students. Aerosp. Med. 34, 401–402 (1963)

    Google Scholar 

  • Howarth, P., Costello, P.: The occurrence of virtual simulation sickness symptoms when an HMD was used as a personal viewing system. Displays. 18(2), 107–116 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jahedi, S., Méndez, F.: On the advantages and disadvantages of subjective measures. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 98, 97–114 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg, R.S., Kennedy, R.S., Graybiel, A.: Motion sickness symptomatology of labyrinthine defective and normal subjects during zero gravity maneuvers. Aerosp. Med. 36, 315–318 (1965)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, R.S., Fowlkes, J.E., Berbaium, K.S., Lilienthal, M.G.: Use of a motion sickness history questionnaire for prediction of simulator sickness. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 63, 588–559 (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, R.S., Lane, N., Berbaum, K., Lilienthal, M.: Simulator sickness questionnaire: an enhanced method for quantifying simulator sickness. Int. J. Aviat. Psychol. 3(3), 203–220 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y., Kim, H., Kim, E., Ko, H., Kim, H.: Characteristic changes in the physiological components of cybersickness. Psychophysiology. 42(5), 616–625 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolasinski, E.M.: Simulator sickness in virtual environments. Technical report 1027. United States Army Research Institute for Behavioral and Social Sciences. http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a29586.pdf. (1995). Accessed 9 Jan 2018

  • LaViola Jr., J.J.: A discussion of cybersickness in virtual environments. ACM SIGCHI Bull. 32(1), 47–56 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, B.D., Mead, A.M.: The sopite syndrome revisted: drowsiness and mood changes during real or apparent motion. Acta Astronaut. 43, 181–192 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCauley, M., Sharkey, T.: Cybersickness: perception of self-motion in virtual environments. Presence Teleop. Virt. 1(3), 311–318 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muth, E.R., Stern, R.M., Thayer, J.F., Koch, K.L.: Assessment of the multiple dimensions of nausea: the nausea profile (NF). J. Psychosom. Res. 40, 511–520 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nalivaiko, E., Rudd, J.A., So, R.H.Y.: Motion sickness, nausea and thermoregulation: the “toxic” hypothesis. Temperature. 1(3), 164–171 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nalivaiko, E., Davis, S.L., Blackmore, K.L., Vakulin, A., Nesbitt, K.V.: Cybersickness provoked by head-mounted display affects cutaneous vascular tone, heart rate and reaction time. Physiol. Behav. 151, 583–590 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nesbitt, K., Davis, S., Blackmore, K., Nalivaiko, E.: Correlating reaction time and nausea measures with traditional measures of cybersickness. Displays. 48, 1–8 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngampramuan, S., Cerri, M., Del Vecchio, F., Corrigan, J.J., Kamphee, A., Dragic, A.S., Rudd, J.A., Romanovsky, A.A., Nalivaiko, E.: Thermoregulatory correlates of nausea in rats and musk shrews. Oncotarget. 5(6), 1565–1575 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohyama, S., Nishiike, S., Watanabe, H., Matsuoka, K., Akizuki, H., Takeda, N., Harada, T.: Autonomic responses during motion sickness induced by virtual reality. Auris Nasus Larynx. 34(3), 303–306 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riccio, G.E., Thomas, A.S.: An ecological theory of motion sickness and postural instability. Ecol. Psychol. 3(3), 195–240 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S.P., Blackmore, K.L., Nesbitt, K.V.: Using optical flow as an objective metric of cybersickness in virtual environments. Paper presented at the Australasian Simulation Congress 2017 (ASC 2017), Sydney, 28–31 Aug 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1346847. Accessed 9 Jan 2018

  • So, R.H., Ho, A., Lo, W.T.: A metric to quantify virtual scene movement for the study of cybersickness: definition, implementation, and verification. Presence Teleop. Virt. 10(2), 193–215 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, R.M., Koch, K.L., Andrews, P.: Nausea: Mechanisms and Management. Oxford University Press, New York (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Treisman, M.: Motion sickness, an evolutionary hypothesis. Science. 197, 493–495 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, N.A., Griffin, M.J.: Eye movement, vection, and motion sickness with foveal and peripheral vision. Aviat. Space Environ. Med. 74(6), 622–625 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Keith Nesbitt

  2. School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Eugene Nalivaiko

Authors
  1. Keith Nesbitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eugene Nalivaiko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keith Nesbitt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Computer Science Department, Woodbury University Applied Computer Science Department, Burbank, California, USA

    Newton Lee

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Nesbitt, K., Nalivaiko, E. (2018). Cybersickness. In: Lee, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_252-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_252-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08234-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08234-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation