Cybersickness Lies in the Eye of the Observer - Pupil Diameter as a Potential Indicator of Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality?

Cybersickness is a widespread problem for many users of Virtual Reality systems. Changes in pupil diameter have been suggested as potential physiological correlates of cybersickness, but the relationship remains vague. Here, we further investigated how pupil diameter changes in relation to cybersickness by engaging participants in a passive locomotion through an outer-space environment. Participants who experienced sickness showed greater variance in pupil diameter compared to non-sick participants, whereas average pupil diameter did not differ. Our results suggest that irregular pupillary rhythms may be a potential correlate of cybersickness, which could be used to objectively identify cybersickness.