Effects of Posture and Locomotion Methods on Postural Stability, Cybersickness, and Presence in a Virtual Environment

AbstractVirtual reality (VR) users experience unwanted symptoms, such as body imbalance, nausea, dizziness, and loss of presence. This study aims to investigate the effects of posture and locomotion on postural stability, cybersickness, and presence in VR environments. Twenty participants played a VR game under different conditions depending on posture (standing and sitting) and locomotion methods (joystick and teleportation), and seven dependent variables (COM, AP displacement, ML displacement, ASL, PSQ, VRSQ, and SOP) were analyzed to observe postural stability, cybersickness, and presence. The results revealed that postural instability increased when the task was performed in the standing posture with the joystick locomotion method compared to other conditions. The AP displacement, ML displacement, and ASL were lower under teleportation conditions. The PSQ scores indicated that postural stability was better in the sitting posture than in the standing posture. The VRSQ score revealed that the sitting with teleportation condition had less cybersickness than the other conditions. The SOP score was the highest in the standing posture with the teleportation condition. This study concludes that a sitting posture with teleportation locomotion can be considered when designing games in which users actively interact with virtual movements.Keywords: Virtual realityhead-mounted displayposturelocomotion methodpostural stabilitycybersicknesspresence Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementData will be available upon reasonable request (owing to privacy and ethical restrictions).Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2020R1I1A3067932).Notes on contributorsNaveen KumarNaveen Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the School of Design at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies. His research interests include Human-Computer Interaction and Human Factors in VR/AR and smart factory.Chae Heon LimChae Heon Lim is a Master’s student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Gyeongsang National University. His research interests include user experiences in VR environments.Suman Kalyan SardarSuman Kalyan Sardar is a Research Professor at Gyeongsang National University. He received PhD from Hanyang University, South Korea. He is currently working on Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction to design, deploy, and evaluate technologies that revolve around human life.Se Hyeon ParkSe Hyeon Park is a Master’s student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Gyeongsang National University. Her research interests include user experiences in automotive user interfaces and VR environments.Seul Chan LeeSeul Chan Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Gyeongsang National University. His research goals are to explore users’ needs and requirements, evaluate system artifacts, and improve systems and devices based on the theories and methodologies of Human Factors, Ergonomics, and Human-Computer Interaction.