Simulator sickness and presence using HMDs: comparing use of a game controller and a position estimation system

Abstract

Consumer-grade head-mounted displays (HMD) such as the Oculus Rift have become increasingly available for Virtual Reality recently. Their high degree of immersion and presence provokes usually amazement when first used. Nevertheless, HMDs also have been reported to cause adverse reactions such as simulator sickness. As their impact is growing, it is important to understand such side effects. This paper presents the results of a relatively large scale user experiment which compares using a conventional game controller versus positioning in the virtual world based upon the signal of the internal Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) using Oculus Rift DK1. We show that simulator sickness is significantly reduced when using a position estimation system rather than using the more traditional game controller for navigation. However the sense of presence was not enhanced by the possibility of 'real walking'. We also show the impact of other factors, such as prior experience or motion history, and discuss the results.