Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors

Autoren

Behrang Keshavarz
Daniela Stelzmann
Aurore Paillard
Heiko Hecht

DOI

10.1007/s00221-015-4209-9

eISSN

1432-1106

ISSN

0014-4819

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

5

Zeitschrift

Experimental Brain Research

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2015

Paginierung

1353 - 1364

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2015

Status

Published

Herausgeber

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4209-9

Datum der Datenerfassung

2023

Titel

Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

233

Datenquelle: Crossref

Abstract

Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a common side effect in virtual environments and simulators. Several countermeasures against VIMS exist, but a reliable method to prevent or ease VIMS is unfortunately still missing. In the present study, we tested whether olfactory cues can alleviate VIMS. Sixty-two participants were exposed to a 15-min-long video showing a first-person-view bicycle ride that had successfully induced VIMS in previous studies. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; the first group was exposed to a pleasant odor (rose) while watching the video, the second group was exposed to an unpleasant odor (leather), and the third group was not exposed to any odor. VIMS was measured using a verbal rating scale (0-20) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Results showed that only half of the participants who were exposed to the odor did notice it (n = 21), whereas the other half failed to detect the odor. However, among those participants who did notice the odor, the rose scent significantly reduced the severity of VIMS compared to the group that did not notice the odor. A moderate positive correlation between odor sensitivity and VIMS showed that participants with higher odor sensitivity also reported stronger VIMS. Our results demonstrate that olfaction can modulate VIMS and that a pleasant odor can potentially reduce VIMS. The relationship between olfactory perception, olfactory sensibility, and VIMS is discussed.

Addresses

Department of Research, iDAPT, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, 550 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 2A2, Canada, behrang.keshavarz@uhn.ca.

Autoren

Behrang Keshavarz
Daniela Stelzmann
Aurore Paillard
Heiko Hecht

DOI

10.1007/s00221-015-4209-9

eISSN

1432-1106

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 25633319

Open access

false

ISSN

0014-4819

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

5

Zeitschrift

Experimental brain research

Schlüsselwörter

Humans
Motion Sickness
Statistics, Nonparametric
Photic Stimulation
Smell
Psychophysics
Time Factors
Adolescent
Adult
Female
Male
Olfactory Perception
Young Adult
Pleasure
Odorants

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print-Electronic

Online publication date

2015

Paginierung

1353 - 1364

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2015

Status

Published

Datum der Datenerfassung

2015

Titel

Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors.

Sub types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

233

Datenquelle: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

Visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) is a common side effect in virtual environments and simulators. Several countermeasures against VIMS exist, but a reliable method to prevent or ease VIMS is unfortunately still missing. In the present study, we tested whether olfactory cues can alleviate VIMS. Sixty-two participants were exposed to a 15-min-long video showing a first-person-view bicycle ride that had successfully induced VIMS in previous studies. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups; the first group was exposed to a pleasant odor (rose) while watching the video, the second group was exposed to an unpleasant odor (leather), and the third group was not exposed to any odor. VIMS was measured using a verbal rating scale (0-20) and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Results showed that only half of the participants who were exposed to the odor did notice it (n = 21), whereas the other half failed to detect the odor. However, among those participants who did notice the odor, the rose scent significantly reduced the severity of VIMS compared to the group that did not notice the odor. A moderate positive correlation between odor sensitivity and VIMS showed that participants with higher odor sensitivity also reported stronger VIMS. Our results demonstrate that olfaction can modulate VIMS and that a pleasant odor can potentially reduce VIMS. The relationship between olfactory perception, olfactory sensibility, and VIMS is discussed.

Date of acceptance

2015

Autoren

Behrang Keshavarz
Daniela Stelzmann
Aurore Paillard
Heiko Hecht

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25633319

DOI

10.1007/s00221-015-4209-9

eISSN

1432-1106

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

5

Zeitschrift

Exp Brain Res

Schlüsselwörter

Adolescent
Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Motion Sickness
Odorants
Olfactory Perception
Photic Stimulation
Pleasure
Psychophysics
Smell
Statistics, Nonparametric
Time Factors
Young Adult

Sprache

eng

Country

Germany

Paginierung

1353 - 1364

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2015

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2015

Titel

Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors.

Sub types

Journal Article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

233

Datenquelle: PubMed

Visually induced motion sickness can be alleviated by pleasant odors

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