Realidade virtual: uma análise dos impactos do uso prolongado e seus efeitos

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) has evolved significantly since the 1990s, becoming a promising technology in areas such as gaming, medicine, and education. However, one of the major challenges to its widespread adoption is the phenomenon known as cybersickness, which includes symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, and disorientation during or after immersion in virtual environments. These symptoms limit the use time and negatively impact users’ experience. Factors such as graphics quality and motion latency in the virtual world can also exacerbate these symptoms. This study aims to understand how cybersickness affects VR users during extended usage. Applying the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) on seven participants over three-hour experimental sessions made it possible to track symptoms, compare results, and provide relevant insights into immersive VR environments. The main findings include observing that cybersickness symptoms increase significantly after the first hour of immersion and identifying three user profiles based on individual analyses: users resistant to cybersickness, users sensitive to cybersickness but resilient enough to fulfill the task, and users sensitive to cybersickness who give up the task. Furthermore, a strong correlation between SSQ and FMS measurements suggests the feasibility of using FMS for quick cybersickness assessment. Key-words: Virtual Reality. Cybersickness. Extended Use. Symptoms. User Experience.