Cybersickness in Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays: Examining the Influence of Sex Differences and Vehicle Control

Motion sickness is more common among women than among men. In vehicles, motion sickness is more common among passengers than among drivers. We asked whether these two effects might interact. In a yoked-control design using a head-mounted display, one member of each pair drove a virtual automobile, while the other member watched a recording of the driver’s performance. Overall reports of motion sickness were representative of previous research. We found no evidence that the incidence of motion sickness, or the severity of motion sickness symptoms differed between the sexes, or between drivers and passengers. However, among participants who discontinued early, the exposure time for female drivers was significantly less than for male drivers. The results confirm that motion sickness is a common effect of HMD use, and suggest that in virtual environments sex differences in motion sickness may vary with specific tasks.