Stephen B. Gilbert

Cybersickness is a major challenge to the reliable use of augmented reality (AR) systems, as it can impair operators’ cognition and task performance. However, existing cybersickness models primarily rely on predictive approaches and lack formally verifiable methods to assess cybersickness and its impact on task performance. This paper introduces a formal modeling approach using Discrete-Time Markov Chains (DTMC) to represent the temporal progression of cybersickness and its impact on task performance in a checkpoint surveillance scenario. The model incorporates exposure duration as a key cybersickness-inducing factor and uses preliminary experimental data to generate mock datasets for model construction and verification. The model enables probabilistic verification of properties, such as bounds on the onset of cybersickness and task performance. This approach demonstrates the feasibility of applying formal methods to model human interaction with AR systems and to generate probabilistic guarantees on operators’ cybersickness and task performance.

BackgroundCybersickness reflects interactions between system (hardware and software) properties and user characteristics. Although motion sickness susceptibility is a known predictor, individual differences including transient and enduring health, psychological, and personality factors have rarely been examined and never simultaneously.MethodParticipants (N = 252) were exposed to one of five VR games. Cybersickness was assessed using self-reported symptoms (Simulator Sickness Questionnaire; SSQ) and tolerance (time in VR). Hierarchical regression models evaluated whether health, psychological functioning (affective state, psychological distress), and personality predicted outcomes after accounting for game, sex, and motion sickness susceptibility.ResultsFatigue, pain sensitivity, and sex were key predictors of symptom severity: higher fatigue, greater pain sensitivity, and female sex were associated with higher SSQ scores. Motion sickness susceptibility and agreeableness predicted reduced tolerance. Final models explained 29.3% of variance in SSQ and 23.8% in tolerance.ConclusionCybersickness reflected established stimulus and susceptibility factors as well as outcome-specific user characteristics: health-related factors and sex were associated with symptom severity; susceptibility and agreeableness were associated with tolerance.ApplicationUser state (e.g., fatigue), sex, motion sickness susceptibility, and tolerance-related individual differences should be considered in the design and deployment of immersive systems to improve comfort and support sustained VR use.

As autonomous agents become increasingly sophisticated and widespread, there is a corresponding need to study human-agent teaming (HAT), where humans and artificial intelligence (AI) agents collaborate as interdependent teammates. However, existing HAT research testbeds have limitations. Purpose-built testbeds often have a limited number of experimental manipulations (factors that can be changed to create conditions for comparison) or scenario permutations (the range of tasks that can be implemented in the testbed). Repurposed platforms (e.g., cooperative video games) have limited customizability and data collection methods. This research sought to identify requirements for a flexible HAT research testbed by analyzing the future needs of HAT researchers, based on a literature review of emergent trends in HAT research, including the impact of AI advancements on HAT, as well as ongoing core human factors issues, such as trust and communication. The implications of these trends for HAT research testbeds are discussed. The second part of this chapter presents synthesized testbed requirements based on these research trends. These requirements can serve as a roadmap for identifying and prioritizing testbed features. They provide detailed information on specific research topics of interest and offer a broad overview for researchers seeking insights into how to support future HAT research questions.

Assessment is a foundational element of effective teaching and learning, serving as both a tool for instructional improvement and a measure of educational quality (Harlen, 2010; Scriven, 1991). Amo...

ObjectiveThe Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) is widely used to assess cybersickness, but its structure and scoring may not fully reflect symptom patterns experienced in modern virtual reality (VR). This study evaluated whether a simpler restructured version could provide a more streamlined and interpretable measure while preserving its association with behavioral tolerance.BackgroundCybersickness includes symptoms such as nausea, disorientation, and eyestrain. Existing SSQ scoring uses overlapping subscales, potentially redundant items, and weighted scores that may reduce interpretability.MethodStudy 1 (N = 361) used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on 16 SSQ items administered following VR exposure. Study 2 (N = 481) used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in an independent sample to compare competing models. Criterion-related validity was evaluated using behavioral tolerance measures (time in VR and early withdrawal).ResultsEFA supported a three-factor structure (strain, dizziness/disorientation, nausea). Removing weak and redundant items produced an 11-item model (VR-SSQ). CFA indicated acceptable fit, comparable to the original SSQ and alternative scoring methods. The VR-SSQ uses non-overlapping subscales scored as simple item means. All measures were strongly associated with reduced behavioral tolerance to VR (shorter exposure duration and increased likelihood of withdrawal).ConclusionCybersickness reflects a multidimensional construct with a strong general component. The VR-SSQ is a reduced item set that captures this structure while retaining comparable associations with behavioral tolerance, supporting a simpler and more interpretable measurement tool.ApplicationThe streamlined VR-SSQ facilitates more interpretable assessment of cybersickness symptoms while reducing time to administer and scoring complexity in research and applied VR settings.

Cybersickness, or sickness caused by virtual reality (VR), represents a significant threat to the usability of VR applications. Repeated exposure to the same VR stimulus causes a reduction in cybersickness, referred to as Cybersickness Abatement from Repeated Exposure (CARE). This study examined whether the benefits of CARE generalize across distinct VR contexts, which was operationalized as three distinct games (a climbing game, a puzzle game, and a stealth survival game). Participants played a VR game for up to 20 minutes. Those in the Repeated Exposure condition played one VR game (either a puzzle game or a climbing game) on three separate days followed by a different VR game (a survival game) on the fourth day. Those in the Single Exposure condition played the survival game once. The three games all differed in several ways, including environment and task, whereas the puzzle and survival games shared a similar joystick locomotion interface that differed from the locomotion interface in the climbing game. Results indicate that cybersickness on Day 4 of the Repeated Exposure condition was significantly lower than that in the Single Exposure condition, regardless of which game was experienced on Days 1-3. The practical implication of this finding is that CARE that occurs in one VR context can generalize to a novel context with a distinct environment, task, and locomotion interface. Results are considered in the context of multiple theoretical explanations for CARE, including sensory rearrangement and habituation. These results support systematic exposure as an approach to reducing cybersickness.

Cybersickness, or sickness caused by virtual reality (VR), represents a significant threat to the usability of VR applications. Repeated exposure to the same VR stimulus causes a reduction in cybersickness, referred to as Cybersickness Abatement from Repeated Exposure (CARE). This study examined whether the benefits of CARE generalize across distinct VR contexts, which was operationalized as three distinct games (a climbing game, a puzzle game, and a stealth survival game). Participants played a VR game for up to 20 minutes. Those in the Repeated Exposure condition played one VR game (either a puzzle game or a climbing game) on three separate days followed by a different VR game (a survival game) on the fourth day. Those in the Single Exposure condition played the survival game once. The three games all differed in several ways, including environment and task, whereas the puzzle and survival games shared a similar joystick locomotion interface that differed from the locomotion interface in the climbing game. Results indicate that cybersickness on Day 4 of the Repeated Exposure condition was significantly lower than that in the Single Exposure condition, regardless of which game was experienced on Days 1-3. The practical implication of this finding is that CARE that occurs in one VR context can generalize to a novel context with a distinct environment, task, and locomotion interface. Results are considered in the context of multiple theoretical explanations for CARE, including sensory rearrangement and habituation. These results support systematic exposure as an approach to reducing cybersickness.