Effects of Cybersickness Caused by Head-Mounted Display–Based Virtual Reality on Physiological Responses: Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Although more people are experiencing cybersickness due to the popularization of virtual reality (VR), no official standard for the cause and reduction of cybersickness exists to date. One of the main reasons is that an objective method to assess cybersickness has not been established. To resolve this, research on evaluating cybersickness with physiological responses that can be measured in real time is required. Since research on deriving physiological responses that can assess cybersickness is at an early stage, further studies examining various physiological responses are needed. OBJECTIVE: This study analyzed the effects of cybersickness caused by head-mounted display–based VR on physiological responses. METHODS: We developed content that provided users with a first-person view of an aircraft that moved (with translation and combined rotation) over a city via a predetermined trajectory. In the experiment, cybersickness and the physiological responses of participants were measured. Cybersickness was assessed by the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). The measured physiological responses were heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and cortisol level. RESULTS: Our measurement confirmed that all SSQ scores increased significantly (all Ps<.05) when participants experienced cybersickness. Heart rate and cortisol level increased significantly (P=.01 and P=.001, respectively). Body temperature also increased, but there was no statistically significant difference (P=.02). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (P=.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of our analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) cybersickness causes significant disorientation, and research on this topic should focus on factors that affect disorientation; and (2) the physiological responses that are suitable for measuring cybersickness are heart rate and cortisol level.