Abstract: PURPOSE: Investigating the role of peripheral vision on visually-induced motion sickness in an immersive virtual environment.
METHODS: Participants were tasked to walk upon a specific trail in an immersive virtual environment. Each participant completed four trail walks in total; peripheral vision was subtly masked in two of the trail walks. Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) scores were recorded before and after each trial walk.
RESULTS: The results showed that the Total Severity Score, Nausea, Oculomotor and Disorientation scores were significantly lower when peripheral vision was subtly masked in comparison to trail walks where peripheral vision was not masked.
CONCLUSIONS: The theory of sensory mismatch posit when information inputs between vestibular, somatosensory, and visual conflict with each other; motion sickness symptoms begin to emerge. Reduction of information from the peripheral region of the retina may have alleviated the degree of conflict between visual and vestibular and/or somatosensory inputs, thus reported SSQ scores were significantly lower in masked peripheral vision conditions.

Key words: virtual reality, visually-induced motion sickness, peripheral vision, simulator sickness questionnaire, sensory mismatch theory