- The paper demonstrates that video passthrough in MR headsets significantly increases simulator sickness, with participants reporting heightened nausea and disorientation.
- The paper reveals notable body schema distortions and distance misperception during a controlled body transfer task.
- The paper identifies a reduction in social presence when using passthrough mode, indicating diminished social connectedness in mixed reality environments.
The Effects of Video Passthrough Headsets on Self-Perception and Social Presence
In this paper, Santoso and Bailenson present a detailed investigation into the perceptual and social effects of video passthrough in mixed reality (MR) headsets. The paper is motivated by the increasing popularity of devices such as the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro, which integrate virtual content into the real world through high-resolution, stereoscopic video passthrough. This paper seeks to quantify the qualitative observations of prior studies, focusing on simulator sickness, body schema distortion, social absence, and distance perception.
Methodology
The researchers conducted a repeated measures paper involving 40 participants, each undergoing a body transfer task in two conditions: with and without the MR headset. The paper utilized a Meta Quest 3 headset and collected data through various questionnaires evaluating simulator sickness, embodiment, body schema changes, body distortion, and presence.
Findings
The paper's results indicate substantial differences between passthrough and no headset conditions:
- Simulator Sickness: Participants reported significantly higher simulator sickness in passthrough mode, notably in terms of nausea, oculomotor disturbance, and disorientation, confirming the sensory conflict theory.
- Body Schema and Distortion: While no significant difference in embodiment was found, participants experienced significant changes in body schema perception and reported body distortions while using video passthrough.
- Distance Perception: Participants underestimated distances more significantly when using the passthrough function compared to without the headset.
- Social Presence: The feeling of social presence was notably lower in passthrough mode compared to no headset, highlighting a phenomenon of social absence.
Implications and Future Directions
These findings carry important implications for the design and utilization of MR headsets. The results suggest that despite technological advances, video passthrough can induce perceptual distortions and simulator sickness, which might hinder its usage as a daily medium for interaction enhancement.
Future research should explore long-term exposure effects to video passthrough, investigate potential mitigation strategies for simulator sickness, and paper the social dynamics in more complex interaction scenarios. Additionally, understanding the underlying mechanisms for distance underestimation and social absence could inform the improvement of these systems.
This paper's contribution lies in providing quantitative insight into the perceptual and social effects of video passthrough, encouraging the field to address these challenges as MR technology continues to evolve.