NCT06552754

Cybersickness Prevention and Mitigation in Virtual Reality for Healthy Volunteers

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 150 (estimated)
• Sponsor: National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) · NIH
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Background: People use virtual reality (VR) technology to play games, socialize, work, or receive medical care. Some people have "cybersickness" after using VR. Cybersickness is similar to motion sickness. Symptoms include eye strain, nausea, dizziness, or headache. The symptoms are usually mild and go away after the person stops using VR. New software called Motion Reset is being designed to reduce symptoms of cybersickness during VR use. Objective: To see if Motion Reset software can reduce cybersickness in people using VR. Eligibility: Healthy adults aged 18 to 60 years. Design: Participants will have 1 clinic visit that will last about 1 hour. They will answer questions about how they are feeling. They will learn how to use the VR headset and the handheld game controllers. The study will be broken into 2 parts. For the first part, participants will be assigned to 1 of 3 groups: Group 1 will participate in a VR experience designed to prevent cybersickness. They will view screens and move around while they press buttons on a controller. Group 2 will participate in a VR experience that is not designed to prevent cybersickness. They will view screens and move around while they press buttons on a controller. Group 3 will have no VR experience. Participants will complete 2 questionnaires about their experiences in the first part of the study. For the second part, all participants will spend up to 20 minutes playing a commercial VR game called Jurassic World Aftermath. Every few minutes, they will be asked if they are experiencing discomfort. After playing the game, participants will complete 12 questionnaires about their experience....

Detailed description

Study Description: This study involves investigation of a virtual reality (VR) experience intended to prevent cybersickness (similar to motion sickness and eye strain) from use of virtual reality equipment. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three arms: active intervention, placebo (a similar VR experience that does not engage sensory systems purported to underlie efficacy), or a notreatment control. Following the intervention, participants will play a VRbased game used in previous research to slowly induce moderate levels of cybersickness in some individuals. During play, we will assess self-reported feelings of discomfort. Participants will be allowed to stop playing at any time or will be asked to stop playing if discomfort reaches a certain threshold. Self-report data will be collected prior to and following the intervention. Objectives: Primary Objective: Evaluate efficacy of an approach for prevention of cybersickness symptoms when using virtual reality. Secondary Objectives: Investigate individual difference factors associated with efficacy; assess mechanisms involved in treatment efficacy Endpoints: Primary Endpoint: Self-reported cybersickness symptoms on the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire Secondary Endpoints: Self-reported cybersickness and duration of stimulus game play. Investigate individual difference factors associated with efficacy; assess mechanisms involved in treatment efficacy

Conditions

• Healthy Volunteers
• Virtual Reality

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Motion Reset	virtual reality-based experiential, sensory intervention
BEHAVIORAL	Placebo	virtual reality-based experiential, sensory experience without intervention

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-09-26
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-07-01
• First posted: 2024-08-14
• Last updated: 2026-01-09

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States