While 2023 has so far been about the tech revolution brought by artificial intelligence, a new study now says that the same tool can be used to help combat nausea, headaches and dizziness among virtual reality (VR) users and make the technology more accessible.
With the growing use and need of virtual reality technology, being able to effectively predict and prevent cybersickness was crucial, said researchers from Australia’s Charles Darwin University (CDU) and Torrens University.
These researchers explored the usage of artificial intelligence techniques and machine learning algorithms to predict cybersickness for potential users of VR technology with headsets.
As per media reports, the questionnaire data for the study was split into two groups, one among people who are likely to experience cybersickness symptoms within minutes of using the VR devices, and the ones who wouldn’t have issues with using VR devices.
The results, published in the journal Virtual Reality, revealed that artificial intelligence could predict discomfort among VR headset users with 93% accuracy.
“Most people feel discomfort after having a virtual reality experience and having the ability to predict the occurrence of cybersickness for an individual, helps the VR developers and manufacturers to come up with solutions and take pre-emptive actions to create a better experience for the VR users and address the issues causing it,” said Niusha Shafiabady, Associate Professor, Faculty of Science and Technology at CDU.
“In the era of technology and especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for remote access and virtual education has grown significantly. Cybersickness is one of the factors that hinder users from using VR devices because of the great discomfort due to the VR experience,” she added further.
Professor Shafiabady also said that the next step of the study could be to use explainable artificial intelligence algorithms to explore why the algorithms made their predictions, giving developers and manufacturers reason why users will have discomfort.
“We are moving towards the times where we use virtual reality devices for essential activities such as servicing manufacturers remotely and teaching, to less essential but more fun activities like looking into outer space through VR lens,” Niusha Shafiabady said further.
“In the era of technology, VR users should be able to get the benefits of technology without suffering,” the expert concluded.
Is Joyful Music Another Solution?
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh recently came out with a report, where they examined the effects of music in a virtual reality environment among 39 people aged between 22 and 36.
A series of tests assessed how cybersickness affected memory skills by recording reading speed and reaction times, the university stated.
Participants were immersed in a virtual environment, experiencing three roller coaster rides aimed at inducing cybersickness.
While two of the rides were accompanied by electronic music with no lyrics or music, the findings showed that the experiment significantly decreased the intensity of cybersickness which was associated with a temporary reduction in verbal working memory test scores and a decrease in pupil size. The experiment also showed that higher levels of gaming experience were associated with lower cybersickness.