TY - JOUR AU - Riedl, David AU - Loth, Fanny L. AU - Eppler, Sebastian AU - Holzner, Bernhard AU - Rumpold, Gerhard PY - 2019 DA - 2019// TI - The Influence of Autonomous Movement on Adverse Events in Relaxing Virtual Environments Using a Head-Mounted Display: An Exploratory Study JO - Journal of Virtual Reality and Broadcasting VL - 15(2018) IS - 1 KW - Cybersickness KW - HMD KW - Head-Mounted Display KW - Virtual Reality KW - adverse events AB - Background: Virtual reality has been increasinglyused to support established psychological interventions,including relaxation techniques. Only limitedknowledge about the occurrence and severity of adverseevents (AE) (e.g. cybersickness) in relaxing virtualenvironments is available. The aim of the studywas to assess the frequency of AE in virtual environmentsand factors associated with these.Methods: A sample of 30 healthy participants wasincluded in the study. The participants completedquestionnaires on susceptibility of motion sickness,use of and attitudes towards modern technology priorto the exposition to the virtual environment. They thentook part in three short virtual scenarios (no movementof the avatar, steady non-autonomous movement, andautonomous movement) using head-mounted displaysand rated the occurrence and severity of AE after eachscenario.Results: The participants reported high incidencerates of different AEs (40–70%), but only in the scenariowith autonomous movement. In the scenarioswith no or only limited control over movement approximately30% reported slight symptoms of dizziness,and 3–7% reported slight nausea. Nevertheless,the occurrence of AEs resulted in reduced relaxationand mood. Gender, age, and usage of computers andgaming consoles had no influence on the incidence orseverity of AEs.Discussion: Our results show that virtual reality is asafe technology to be used in clinical psychology, ifcertain parameters are being minded. Future studiesshould routinely assess and report AEs in a structuredway, to enable more in–depth insights regarding influentialfactors and potential prevention strategies. SN - 1860-2037 UR - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0009-6-48192 DO - 10.20385/1860-2037/15.2018.1 ID - riedl2019 ER -