Guillaume Giraudet

Enhancing data visualisation to capture the simulator sickness phenomenon: On the usefulness of radar charts

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled “The use of transdermal scopolamine to solve methodological issues raised by gender differences in susceptibility to simulator sickness” (Chaumillon et al., 2017) [1]. In an outstanding first demonstration, Kennedy et al. [2] showed that the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) is an appropriate tool to suit the purposes of characterizing motion sickness experienced in virtual environments. This questionnaire has since been used in many scientific studies. Recently, Balk et al. [3] suggested that the proposed segregation of SSQ scores into three subclasses of symptoms might limit the accuracy of simulator sickness assessment. These authors performed a factor analysis based on SSQ scores obtained from nine studies on driving simulators. Although their factor analysis resulted in the same three orthogonal classes of symptoms as Kennedy et al. [2], unlike this pioneering study, no items were attributed to more than one factor and five items were not attributed to any class of symptoms. As a result, they claimed that an exploration of each item score should give additional cues on individual profiles. To gain a better characterization of such item-by-item exploration, data utilised in this research are shown using a radar chart visualisation.

Myopes Show Greater Visually Induced Postural Responses Than Emmetropes.

PURPOSE The literature already establishes that vision plays a crucial role in postural control and that this visual dependence shows intra- and interindividual variability. However, does ametropia also have an effect on postural control? This question leads to our study, which aims primarily to determine if myopes and emmetropes behave differently in terms of postural control when subjected to visual stimulation, and secondarily, if this difference persists in the presence of barrel and pincushion distortions. The results could lead, among other things, to improved lens design. METHODS Twenty-four subjects (12 myopes of -2.00 to -9.00 diopters [D] and 12 emmetropes of -0.50 to +0.50 D), between 19 and 35 years of age, participated in the study after comprehensive eye examinations were carried out. Of the 12 myopes, the preferred type of correction was divided equally within the group. While standing in front of a projection system and fixating on an immobile point, a checkerboard stimulus was displayed in their peripheral visual field, in either a static or dynamic state. Three conditions of optical distortion (plan, pincushion, and barrel distortions) were presented to the subjects. Their postural response was measured and recorded using a system of infrared cameras and optical sensors positioned on a helmet. RESULTS The results show that postural instability induced by a dynamic peripheral stimulus is higher for myopes compared with emmetropes (ANOVA Refractive Error, F1,22 = 5.92, P = 0.0235). When exposed to optical distortions, the two groups also have significant differences in postural behaviors (ANOVA Refractive Error*Optical Distortion, F2,44 = 5.67, P = 0.0064). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that refractive error could be a factor in explaining individual variations of the role of vision in postural control.