A Systematic Survey on Cybersickness in Virtual Environments

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology with a broad range of applications in training, entertainment, and business. To maximize the potentials of virtual reality as a medium, the unwelcome feeling of cybersickness needs to be minimized. Cybersickness is a type of simulation sickness that is experienced in virtual reality. It is a significant challenge for the usability of virtual reality systems. Even with advancements in virtual reality, the usability concerns are barriers for a wide-spread acceptance. Several factors (hardware, software, human) play a part towards a pleasant virtual reality experience. In this paper, we review the potential factors which cause sickness and minimize the usability of virtual reality systems. The reviewed scientific articles are mostly part of documents indexed in digital libraries. We review the best practices from a developer’s perspective and some of the safety measures a user must follow while using the virtual reality systems from existing research. Even after following some of the guidelines and best practices virtual reality environments do not guarantee a pleasant experience for users. Limited research in virtual reality environments towards requirements specification, design, and development for maximum usability and adaptability was the main motive for this work.

Keywords

• virtual reality (VR)
• virtual environment
• simulation sickness
• cybersickness
• head mounted displays (HMDs)
• usability