Cybersickness Research

(funded by National Science Foundation grant 2309990):

Cybersickness is discomfort that can occur during or after exposure to immersive virtual reality (VR), and can include symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, disorientation, eye strain, headache, and difficulty concentrating. Cybersickness is also sometimes called VR sickness, virtual reality sickness, or simulator sickness. Cybersickness is a barrier to effective and accessible VR use.

Research in the Navigation Lab examines why some users become sick in VR, why some users tolerate symptoms better than others, how symptoms change across repeated exposures, and how VR experiences can be designed to reduce discomfort.

Our current work focuses on four related themes: measurement, individual differences, adaptation, and recovery.

Measurement and tolerance

We study how cybersickness should be measured and interpreted, including post-exposure symptom reports, repeated symptom ratings during VR, behavioral tolerance, time in VR, and early withdrawal. Current work includes refinement and validation of cybersickness measurement tools for immersive VR.

• Kelly, J. W., Doty, T. A., Gilbert, S. B., & Dorneich, M. C. (under review). Measuring cybersickness in virtual reality: Refinement and validation of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire.
• Kelly, J. W., Dorneich, M. C., & Gilbert, S. B. (under review). Interpreting FMS and SSQ cybersickness ratings via user tolerance in virtual reality.

Individual differences

People differ substantially in their responses to VR. Some users experience severe cybersickness symptoms quickly, whereas others show little discomfort or are able to tolerate symptoms for longer periods. Our research examines predictors of cybersickness severity and tolerance, including health factors, personality, sex and gender-related variables, video game history, prior VR experience, and symptom profiles.

• Kelly, J. W., Doty, T. A., Hicks, S., Gilbert, S. B., & Dorneich, M. C. Health and personality contributions to cybersickness in virtual reality.
• Kelly, J. W., Gilbert, S. B., Dorneich, M. C., & Costabile, K. A. Gender differences in cybersickness: Clarifying confusion and identifying paths forward.
• Jasper, A., Sepich, N. C., Gilbert, S. B., Kelly, J. W., & Dorneich, M. C. Predicting cybersickness using individual and task characteristics. Computers in Human Behavior.

Adaptation and mitigation

Cybersickness symptoms often decrease with repeated exposure to VR. Our lab studies cybersickness adaptation as both a practical mitigation strategy and a theoretical problem in human factors. Recent work examines how quickly adaptation occurs, whether adaptation can occur while keeping symptoms relatively low, and whether adaptation transfers to new situations (e.g., new virtual environments). In related work, we study the effectiveness of certain tools to mitigate cybersickness during exposure.

• Doty, T. A., Kelly, J. W., Gilbert, S. B., & Dorneich, M. C. (2025). Cybersickness abatement from repeated exposure to VR with reduced discomfort. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
• Kelly, J. W., Doty, T. A., Dorneich, M. C., & Gilbert, S. B. (2026). Cybersickness abatement from repeated exposure generalizes across experiences. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
• Kelly, J. W., Doty, T. A., Gilbert, S. B., & Dorneich, M. C. (2025). Field of view restriction and snap turning as cybersickness mitigation tools. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

Recovery

Cybersickness does not always end when the headset is removed. For some users, symptoms may persist after VR exposure, whereas others recover quickly. Upcoming work in the lab examines how quickly users recover after VR exposure and whether predictors of recovery differ from predictors of initial sickness, tolerance, or adaptation.

The cybersickness cycle

Our current approach treats cybersickness as a process that unfolds across several stages:

• Initial susceptibility: who becomes sick and how quickly
• Tolerance during exposure: who can continue using VR despite symptoms
• Adaptation across exposures: who improves with repeated VR experience
• Recovery after exposure: who returns to baseline quickly after VR use

This framework guides our ongoing studies of cybersickness measurement, prediction, mitigation, adaptation, and recovery.