Perceptual Gravity Weighting Is Associated with Cybersickness Susceptibility During Virtual Reality

Abstract

Cybersickness in virtual reality (VR) arises from conflicts between sensory signals, yet susceptibility varies considerably across individuals. Previous work in this cohort demonstrated that vestibulomotor responses during postural control are associated with cybersickness susceptibility. Here, we examined whether perceptual weighting of gravity, visual, and body cues used to estimate upright orientation is similarly associated with cybersickness and related to previously reported vestibulomotor measures. Thirty-eight healthy young adults (21 females, 17 males) completed a standing VR rollercoaster task while receiving continuous stochastic electrical vestibular stimulation (0-25 Hz, {+/-}4.5 mA). In the current analysis, perceptual cue weights were quantified before and after VR using the Oriented Character Recognition Task. Cybersickness was assessed using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS), and participants were classified as non-sick (FMS < 5), medium-sick (FMS [≥] 5), or high-sick (terminated the VR exposure early due to intolerance). Before VR, non-sick participants exhibited greater gravity weighting (36% vs. 25%) than high-sick participants, whereas high-sick participants showed a non-significant trend toward greater visual weighting (30% vs. 18%). Perceptual cue weights changed minimally following VR, and the magnitude of perceptual reweighting was not associated with sickness severity. Vestibulomotor measures were not correlated with perceptual gravity weighting, and postural sway during VR was not associated with visual weighting. These findings suggest that greater baseline perceptual gravity weighting, rather than short-term perceptual reweighting, is associated with reduced cybersickness susceptibility. The dissociation between perceptual and vestibulomotor measures suggests that orientation perception and postural control reflect partially distinct multisensory integration processes. New and NoteworthyThis study demonstrates that baseline perceptual gravity weighting is associated with susceptibility to cybersickness during virtual reality exposure with concurrent electrical vestibular stimulation. Greater reliance on gravity cues was associated with reduced susceptibility, whereas visual weighting showed a similar but non-significant trend and perceptual reweighting changed minimally following exposure. Perceptual measures were dissociable from vestibulomotor responses, suggesting that orientation perception and postural control reflect partially distinct multisensory integration processes.