Primary supervisor
Rob TeatherCybersickness (nausea, disorientation) due to exposure to virtual environments has long been a problem in virtual reality (VR) and has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of VR environments. It usually occurs due to mismatches between visual and vestibular (motion) cues, for example, when moving through a 3D environment using a joystick, which does not yield correct motion cues. There are several approaches to reducing cybersickness in VR, most notably, reducing the field of view ("tunneling") during motion, or discrete motion ("snapping" movement and rotation). Both of these approaches reduce optical flow, one by reducing the amount of the environment the user sees, the other by eliminating some motion altogether.
Aim/outline
This project expands on our previous work in viewpoint snapping. Our paper (Farmani & Teather, 2020) revealed the approach is effective in reducing cybersickness. This project will involve determining the optimal rotational speed at which to activate viewpoint snapping, the angular distance by which the viewpoint should snap. It will also involve investigation of translating the viewpoint (i.e., how far should the viewpoint snap during movement) and empirical comparison of these methods of cybersickness reduction to other approaches (e.g., field of view reduction).
URLs/references
https://www.csit.carleton.ca/~rteather/pdfs/VR_2020_cybersickness.pdf
Required knowledge
The project will involve developing VR software using Unity or Unreal, for use with an Oculus Quest or similar head-mounted display, followed by conducting experiments with human participants to assess the effectiveness of the optimized parameters. The student(s) involved in this project will perform software development, likely using a high-level framework like Unity 3D or Unreal, facilitating rapid prototyping. Software development skills and related math are critical; background in evaluating human-computer interfaces is beneficial.