Table 4: Eye symptoms related to head mounted display exposure.
| Author | Country | Subjects
Male Female |
Mean- age
Age- range (years) |
Head Mounted Displays | Evaluation methods | Results |
| Kooi [67] | Nether-lands | 8 | Not Given | Virtual I/O i-glasses™ Vision Sport monocular | Objective measurement | The scores of the accommodative facility after viewing the Vision Sport HMDa were reduced to nearly half their value, showing significant strain. The Virtual io HMD scores were intermediate, the monocular version being more straining than the binocular version. All subjects showed more eyestrain with the monocular systems. |
| Ehrlich [69] | USA | 48
36M 12F |
23.6
(18 - 50) |
Virtual Research Fight Helmet | SSQ | The stereoscopic condition produced greater simulator sickness than the bi-ocular condition. |
| Howarth [19] | UK | 20 | 28 | Virtual I/O i-glasses™ | Subjective questionnaire | The use of HMDs as personal viewing devices more readily induced the specific symptoms of virtual simulation sickness. |
| Peli [14] | USA | 37
21M 16F |
18 - 49 | Virtual I/O i-glasses™ | Subjective questionnaire
Objective measurement |
No functional differences were found between HMD and CRTb. Subjective comfort found a statistically significant difference in the impression of comfort between the CRT and the HMD in stereoscopic mode. |
| Nichols [22] | UK | 9
6M 3F |
25 | Virtuality Visette 2, Virtual i/O i-glasses™
Division dVisor |
Subjective questionnaire | Participants experienced different levels of discomfort in different systems. Ergonomics of HMDs were potential causes of discomfort. |
| Howarth [20] | UK | 41
32M 9F |
27
(19 - 56) |
Virtual I/O i-glasses™
Virtuality Visette 2, Division dVisor |
Objective measurement | The use of HMDs in immersive VR can lead to changes within the oculomotor system. The Virtual I-Glasses and Division systems induced exophoric changes (eyes turning outwards), Virtuality system induced esophoric changes (eyes turning inwards). |
| Sheedy [18] | USA | 22 | 22 ± 5.9 (18 - 39) | Inviso eCase, Inviso eShades | Subjective questionnaire
Objective measurement |
Symptoms of eyestrain and blurry vision were significantly higher on monocular virtual than on other displays. No significant changes in visual acuity or heterophoria occurred with any of the displays. Motion-related symptoms with the head mounted near-eye display were not significantly different from those observed with other displays tested. |
| Häkki-Nen [70] | Finland | 60
36M 24F |
26.8
(18 - 41) |
Olympus EyeTrek FMD-700 | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire Visual Symptom Questionnaire |
The stereoscopic condition produced slightly increased postural sway and sickness symptoms for 20-30 min after HMD use. |
| Häkki-nen [71] | Finland | 60 | 27.8
(19 - 48) |
Olympus EyeTrek FMD-700 | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire |
No significant differences in sickness symptoms compared to ordinary display and the virtual display in non-stereoscopic mode. In stereoscopic condition the eye strain and disorientation symptoms were significantly elevated compared to the ordinary display. |
| Kuze [17] | Japan | 104 | (17 - 32) | Sony Glasstron PLM-50 | Subjective questionnaire | Viewing stereoscopic images caused visual fatigue. |
| Moss [68] | USA | 10
2M 8F |
20.6 | ProView XL50 | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire |
Peak Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire scores were significantly higher when wearing |
| Sharp-les [54] | UK | 71
38M 33F |
Not Given | Virtual research V8 | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire |
Higher reported symptoms in HMD compared with desktop viewing (nausea) and in HMD compared with reality theatre viewing (nausea, oculomotor and disorientation symptoms). |
| Kozulin [21] | Australia | 60
29M 31F |
11
(5 - 16) |
Micro-Optical Binocular Viewer | Subjective questionnaire
Objective measurent |
In children aged 5 to 16 years, virtual imagery viewing with the Binocular Viewer had few additional adverse effects when compared to viewing a more conventional high definition television display. |
| Järven Pää [38] | Finland | 120 | Not Given | iTheater, MyVu, Vuzix, Zeiss | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire Visual Symptom Questionnaire |
Small interocular differences in biocular NEDs are not easily detected by humans, but may still create visual fatigue. |
| Järven Pää [39] | Finland | 232
123M 109F |
34.5
(21 - 53) |
Five unidentified Head Mounted Displays likely including HMDs from Järvenpää [38] |
Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire Visual Symptom Questionnaire |
The determination of NED's characteristics helped to predict the subjective experiences, but the nature of the relation between subjective and objective findings was rather complex and depended on several NED-, user-, and task-related features. |
| Pölönen [37] | Finland | 97
48M 49F |
33.8
(23 - 45) |
iTheater, MyVu, Vuzix, Zeiss Cinemizer Plus | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire Visual Symptom Questionnaire |
In general sickness levels remained low after 40 min of immersion. Better headset fit, and light structure were related to lower total workload, frustration and effort levels, and to positive opinion change. Higher visual quality and positive opinion change were related to more pleasant task experiences, whereas sickness and high workload led to less pleasant outcomes. |
| Pölönen [74] | Finland | 20
10M 10F |
34.9
(23 - 53) |
iTheater BP4L, Zeiss Cinemizer Plus, Vuzix Wrap 920 | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire Visual Symptom Questionnaire |
All near-to-eye displays induced eyestrain and sickness symptoms, but the magnitude of these symptoms varied according to the device. The adverse symptoms were related to problems with the display optics and design, text layout, headset fit, use context, and individual differences. |
| Vlad [75] | France | 102
65M 37F |
25 | Prototype HMDs | Simulator
Sickness Questionnaire |
Different stereoscopic displays generated different symptoms. |
| Aykent [66] | France | 14
12M 2F |
24.4 ± 2 | OCULUS Rift | Subjective questionnaire
Objective measurement Modified Simulator Sickness Questionnaire |
Oculus HMDs could cause more sickness in driving simulators, such as Eco2 driving simulator, than medium field of view systems. However, this type of HMD may have provided better immersive impressions than medium to large files of view display systems. |
aHMD: Head-Mounted Display; bCRT: Cathode Ray Tube.