The Effects of a Vibro-Kinetic Multi-Sensory Experience in Passive Seated Vehicular Movement in a Virtual Reality Context
Alexandre Gardé, Pierre‐Majorique Léger, Sylvain Sénécal, Marc Frédette, Élise Labonté-LeMoyne, François Courtemanche, Jean-François Ménard · 2018
This paper investigates the effect of vibro-kinetic (VK) technology on psychophysiological states of users in a virtual reality context. Specifically, we investigate whether a VK seat, i.e., a seat using movement and vibration synchronized with a given media, induces psychophysiological states aligned with an optimal immersive virtual reality (VR) experience. We test our hypotheses with subjects in a seated position while experiencing a passive vehicular movement with a VR headset. Using a between-subject experiment, 45 participants were randomly assigned to a VK or a non-VK condition. Users' psychophysiological states were measured using electrodermal activity, heart rate, and user perceptions. We find evidence that VK significantly enhances the physiological activation of the user throughout the experience. Also, we find that VK seems to create a psychological state that requires less conscious autoregulation, which could suggest that users experience less cybersickness in this condition.