Cybersickness: Perception of Self-Motion in Virtual Environments

Human perceptual systems have evolved to provide accurate information about orientation and movement through the environment. However, these systems have been challenged in the past century by modern transportation devices and will be further challenged by virtual environments (VEs) and teleoperator systems. Illusory self-motion within a VE (“cyberspace”) will be entertaining and instructive, but for many users it will result in motion sickness (“cybersickness”). Sensory conflict theory and the poison hypothesis provide an unproven theoretical foundation for understanding the phenomenon. Although no single engineering solution is likely, the problem can be contained by a combination of engineering design, equipment calibration, and exposure management.