Is Virtual Reality Sickness Elicited by Illusory Motion Affected by Gender and Prior Video Gaming Experience?

Gaming using VR headsets is becoming increasingly popular; however, these displays can cause VR sickness. To investigate the effects of gender and gamer type on VR sickness motion illusions are used as stimuli, being a novel method of inducing the perception of motion whilst minimising the “accommodation vergence conflict”. Females and those who do not play action games experienced more severe VR sickness symptoms compared to males and experienced action gamers. The interaction of the gender and gamer type revealed that prior video gaming experience was beneficial for females, however, for males, it did not show the same positive effects.