Cybersickness in Different Multisensory Conditions in Virtual Reality

Federal University of Piaui

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cybersickness; Reduced Sensation

Treatments: Other: Binaural beats

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05534880

UFDPar

Details and patient eligibility

About

Cybersickness (CS) is characterized as a type of visually induced motion sickness, similar to traditional motion sickness, with specific clinical presentations such as dizziness, eyestrain, oculomotor disorders, blurred vision and spatial disorientation. It can be triggered when experiencing virtual reality (VR), and it affects approximately 20% to 80% of individuals who use these resources. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of CS are not fully understood and the use of virtual environments that have become increasingly recurrent in several sectors deserves attention, as VR is becoming commonplace in methods and techniques of assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Objective: to analyze cortical electrophysiological activity using electroencephalography (EEG) in individuals with SC, under the influence of different audiovisual conditions. Methodology: The study is a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial, the sample for survey satisfaction N= 10 participants, the public were university students from the Universidade Federal do Delta Parnaíba (UFDPar) of both sexes, aged between 18 to 28 years, those who agreed, underwent screening, those who met the criteria and fit, were randomized and allocated to one each of 02 conditions, (C1 - video only) and (C2 - associated with binaural audio), three times in each condition, with a duration of 10 minutes of immersion, with evaluation (pre) before (post) with QEEG and Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), exposure to virtual content was on regular alternate days, with a 24-hour interval between each virtual exposure, at the end of each condition, there will be a 14-day washout and crossover between the conditions. The study will be carried out under all cleaning and prevention care in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, data collection will be at the Brain Mapping and Functionality Laboratory (LAMCEF) of the Federal University of Delta do Parnaíba, Piauí, Brazil. Results: The condition with binaural stimulation is expected to promote neuromodulation and reduction of CS symptoms, compared to the control condition.

Full description

Objectives

General Objective

• Analyze whether the electrophysiological activity of the brain cortex of individuals with cybersickness undergoes neuromodulation through binaural stimuli;

Specific Objectives

Investigate whether stimulation by binaural beats can mitigate the degree of symptoms through the SSQ; Compare whether there is a significant reduction in Sickness Questionare Simulator scores between conditions; Check if there is a difference in absolute power in the Delta band frequency of the parietal and frontal regions between the conditions;

Hypothesis

Our hypothesis is that the condition associated with binaural beats can promote neuromodulation in the electrophysiological activity of the brain cortex, altering the rhythms of brain wave frequencies, which can reduce sensory conflict in cybersickness, through wave entrainment.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 28 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participants must have normal or corrected to normal vision
• Participant must have a history of visually induced motion sickness

Exclusion criteria

• Cannot present vestibular disorders
• Claustrophobia
• Epileptic seizures
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• psychoactive drug use
• Neurological disorders
• Considerable hearing loss

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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10 participants in 2 patient groups

Virtual Reality

Active Comparator group

Description:

Condition 01 - the participants will be induced to CS, they will be immersed in a roller coaster simulation video, lasting 10 minutes, there will be 03 sessions on alternate days with a 24-hour interval between each session, before and after each session will be applied the SSQ questionnaire subjective assessment and EEG objective assessment.

Treatment:

Other: Binaural beats

Virtual reality and binaural beats

Experimental group

Description:

Condition 02 - the participants will be induced to CS, they will be immersed in a roller coaster simulation video associated with audio with binaural beat, lasting 10 minutes, there will be 03 sessions on alternate days with a 24-hour interval between each session, before and after each session, the SSQ subjective assessment questionnaire and the objective assessment EEG will be applied.

Treatment:

Other: Binaural beats