Exploring the Feasibility of Mitigating VR-HMD-Induced Cybersickness Using Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Li, G. , Macía Varela, F., Habib, A., Zhang, Q., McGill, M., Brewster, S. and Pollick, F. (2020) Exploring the Feasibility of Mitigating VR-HMD-Induced Cybersickness Using Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. In: IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR 2020), 14-18 Dec 2020, ISBN 9781728174631 (doi: 10.1109/AIVR50618.2020.00030)

Abstract

Many head-mounted virtual reality display (VR-HMD) applications that involve moving visual environments (e.g., virtual rollercoaster, car and airplane driving) will trigger cybersickness (CS). Previous research Arshad et al. (2015) has explored the inhibitory effect of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on vestibular cortical excitability, applied to traditional motion sickness (MS), however its applicability to CS, as typically experienced in immersive VR, remains unknown. The presented double-blinded 2x2x3 mixed design experiment (independent variables: stimulation condition [cathodal/anodal]; timing of VR stimulus exposure [before/after tDCS]; sickness scenario [slight symptoms onset/moderate symptoms onset/recovery]) aims to investigate whether the tDCS protocol adapted from Arshad et al. (2015) is effective at delaying the onset of CS symptoms and/or accelerating recovery from them in healthy participants. Quantitative analysis revealed that the cathodal tDCS indeed delayed the onset of slight symptoms if compared to that in anodal condition. However, there are no significant differences in delaying the onset of moderate symptoms nor shortening time to recovery between the two stimulation types. Possible reasons for present findings are discussed and suggestions for future studies are proposed.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This research is sponsored by European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 835197).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pollick, Professor Frank and Brewster, Professor Stephen and Li, Dr Gang and McGill, Dr Mark and Habib, Abdullah
• Authors: Li, G., Macía Varela, F., Habib, A., Zhang, Q., McGill, M., Brewster, S., and Pollick, F.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology; T Technology > T Technology (General)
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science; College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Research Group: Multimodal Interaction Group
• ISBN: 9781728174631
• Published Online: 15 January 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 IEEE
• First Published: First published in 2020 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy