CAREER: Measuring and Reducing Cybersickness in Virtual Reality Physical Rehabilitation

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The effects of cybersickness (i.e., motion sickness caused by immersive simulation, such as virtual reality) on healthy users has been one of the fundamental research areas in virtual reality (VR) for many years, but its impact on persons with physical disabilities is still unknown, even though it could have a significant an impact on VR-based physical rehabilitation for this population. This project investigates cybersickness for persons with disabilities, specifically for persons with multiple sclerosis with a moderate level of mobility impairment and no cognitive impairment. The expected outcome of this research is to minimize the negative effects of cybersickness for people with disabilities, and to thereby significantly improve the effectiveness of VR-based physical rehabilitation and the quality of life for people with motor impairments.The first objective of this project is to determine the best way to measure cybersickness in people with disabilities, and the second is to then figure out the main factors that contribute to cybersickness in persons with disabilities, specifically for people with proprioceptive and balance deficits (e.g., due to neurological, vestibular, balance issues). Based on preliminary data, the central hypothesis is that VR-induced cybersickness will be magnified for persons with disabilities as compared to persons without disabilities because of differences in balance and proprioception abilities. To test this hypothesis, the project will (a) determine how disability correlates with VR-induced cybersickness, (b) determine the most effective objective measures of VR-induced cybersickness for people with disabilities, (c) determine the main contributing aspects of VR design that affect cybersickness in people with disabilities and (d) create, disseminate, and maintain an open database of (anonymized) cybersickness data from people with disabilities.Broader Impacts: The project will take a critical step towards the challenge of universal usability in VR and offer a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of VR as a medium for rehabilitation. The project will impact the way that people with disabilities are able to engage in VR-based rehabilitation and exercises, which could potentially have long term impact on the effectiveness and efficacy of the rehabilitation and ultimately the quality of life for these people. The project will actively engage graduate and undergraduate students in research, integrate results from research into a novel course on accessible user interfaces and universal usability, and collaborate with national advocacy societies for persons with disabilities to promote education and motivation for VR-based rehabilitation.