InertiaVibe: Low-fidelity Simulation of Inertia using Head-mounted Vibrotactile Feedback to Reduce Cybersickness and Enhance VR Experience

Abstract

Visually induced motion sickness in VR, or cybersickness, is a major barrier to VR adoption. We present InertiaVibe, a low-fidelity approach to simulate the experience of lateral inertial forces using headset-integrated vibration motors. Specifically, we use 4 vibration motors positioned at both sides of the forehead and the occipital bone, and vibrate the pair of motors in the direction of the inertia force during lateral acceleration, deceleration, and turning. To first evaluate how users think about the vibrotactile feedback in different scenarios, we conducted a pilot study with 12 participants. Results show that their opinions on the vibration were positive. Most users reported improvement of both realism and immersion, and they generally felt less discomfort.