Physical ergonomics of virtual environment use

This paper describes an investigation of the types of problems that may be experienced by Virtual Reality (VR) users. Initial concerns have been voiced about various issues concerning the design of VR equipment, particularly the physical ergonomics of head-mounted displays (HMDs) and hand-held input devices, and the problems associated with display resolution and lags. This study investigated a number of VR users' perceptions of the types of physical ergonomics issues that they were aware of when participating in a number of different virtual environments (VEs), using different VR systems. Several different methods were employed, including questionnaires, body mapping, user observation and interviews. Issues highlighted as either causing participants discomfort or interfering with their experience of the VE were: discomfort from static posture requirements, general discomfort from wearing the HMD, difficulty becoming accustomed to 3D hand held input devices, dissatisfaction with deficits in the visual display and fear of getting 'tangled' in connecting cables. The implications of these findings for developers, implementers and users of VR are discussed.