The Impact of Motion on Individual Simulator Sickness in a Moving Base VR Simulator with Head-Mounted Display (HMD)

Simulators are increasingly used for training applications. Therefore, it is essential to consider negative side effects like simulator sickness. Influencing factors of simulator sickness are related to the individual, to the system, or to the training design. Our empirical study investigates some of these factors in a 30-min virtual helicopter flight with HMD. 30 subjects (Mage = 19.3 years; SD = 4.02) completed the MSSQ (motion sickness susceptibility questionnaire) and the SSQ (simulator sickness questionnaire) before exposure and the SSQ after exposure. The participants received the same treatment on two consecutive days: One day without real motion and the other day with real motion realized utilizing a motion platform. Results show that symptoms of simulator sickness significantly increased directly after VR-exposure. One hour after exposure, the symptoms of simulator sickness are comparable to symptoms before exposure. A difference between the two conditions with real motion and without could not be observed after exposure. Individual motion sickness susceptibility has been identified as a predictor for experiencing simulator sickness. Implications of our findings for the training of helicopter crews and theoretical implications in terms of simulator sickness are discussed.