The Effect of VR Gaming on Discomfort, Cybersickness, and Reaction Time

The capabilities of commercial virtual reality (VR) systems can be utilized to implement a wide spectrum of interaction and locomotion methods. However, immersion in VR is often accompanied by undesirable physical sensations that undermine the VR gaming experience. Presenting the results of a user study (N=20) comparing the physiological and cognitive aftereffects of three different VR games with game mechanics centered around natural interaction, this paper attempts to shed light on the impact of different content factors (e.g., game genre, visual environment, interaction method) on user comfort. While moving away from cybersickness as the primary measure of VR-induced discomfort through investigating a broader set of physical symptoms, such as device-related discomfort, muscle fatigue, and pain, we also include a discussion on the complexities of measuring cybersickness for physically demanding games. Further focusing on cognitive performance, we discuss preliminary findings regarding different effects of common VR game interactions (pick and place, slicing, and shooting) on reaction time.