Visual Exploratory Activity under Microgravity Conditions in VR: An Exploratory Study during a Parabolic Flight

Abstract

This work explores the human visual exploratory activity (VEA) in a microgravity environment compared to one-G. Parabolic flights are the only way to experience microgravity without astronaut training, and the duration of each microgravity segment is less than 20 seconds. Under such special conditions, the test subject visually searches a virtual representation of the International Space Station located in his Field of Regard (FOR). The task was repeated in two different postural positions. Interestingly, the test subject reported a significant reduction of microgravity-related motion sickness while experiencing the VR simulation, in comparison to his previous parabolic flights without VR.