Is it getting hot in here? The effects of VR headset microclimate temperature on perceived thermal discomfort, VR sickness, and skin temperature.
Comfort
Motion sickness
Temperature
User experience
Virtual reality (VR)
Journal
Applied ergonomics
ISSN: 1872-9126
Titre abrégé: Appl Ergon
Pays: England
ID NLM: 0261412
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Jan 2024
Jan 2024
Historique:
received:
13
08
2022
revised:
10
08
2023
accepted:
23
08
2023
medline:
13
11
2023
pubmed:
15
9
2023
entrez:
14
9
2023
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Thermal discomfort is a driver of negative user experiences with modern VR headsets since they are similar to head-worn gaming computers. Here, we examined the effect of microclimate temperature (MCT; i.e., the air between headset and user) and the effect of standing and seated use on thermal discomfort for a goggle style headset. Users played VR games across three 48-min sessions with different thermal profiles ranging between 28°-43 °C. Perceived thermal and weight discomfort were rated by participants every 12-min. Thermal, but not weight comfort declined during the study period as MCT increased. Users sweat more and had greater forehead temperatures while standing with the lowest thermal profile, suggesting thermal management is more critical for active experiences. Overall, this study recommends MCT should be kept below 36 °C. Finally design for thermal comfort should be tailored to the individual, experience duration and activity level.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37708655
pii: S0003-6870(23)00166-7
doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104128
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
104128Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest For the manuscript titled “Is It Getting Hot In Here? The Effects Of VR Headset Microclimate Temperature on Perceived Thermal Discomfort, VR Sickness, and Skin Temperature”. We declare no conflicts of interests associated with this publication. There has been no significant financial support for this work that would have influenced the outcomes. The manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors.