Severity of motion sickness varies across individuals. While some experience immediate symptoms, others seem relatively immune. We explored a potential explanation for such individual variability based on cue conflict theory. According to cue conflict theory, sensory signals that lead to mutually incompatible perceptual interpretations will produce physical discomfort. A direct consequence of such theory is that individuals with greater sensitivity to visual (or vestibular) sensory cues should show greater susceptibility, because they would be more likely to detect a conflict. Using virtual reality (VR), we assessed individual sensitivity to a number of visual cues and subsequently induced moderate levels of motion sickness using stereoscopic movies presented in the VR headset. We found that an observer’s sensitivity to motion parallax cues predicted severity of motion sickness symptoms. We also evaluated evidence for another reported source of variability in motion sickness severity in VR, namely sex, but found little support. We speculate that previously reported sex differences might have been due to poor personalization of VR displays, which default to male settings and introduce cue conflicts for the majority of females. Our results identify a sensitivity-based sensory predictor of motion sickness, which can be used to personalize VR experiences and mitigate discomfort.

晕动病的严重程度因人而异。虽然有些人会立即出现症状，但其他人似乎相对免疫。我们基于线索冲突理论探索了这种个体变异性的潜在解释。根据提示冲突理论，导致相互不兼容的感知解释的感觉信号将产生身体不适。这种理论的直接结果是，对视觉（或前庭）感觉线索更敏感的个人应表现出更高的易感性，因为他们更可能发现冲突。使用虚拟现实（VR），我们评估了个人对多种视觉提示的敏感性，并随后使用VR头显中呈现的立体电影评估了中等程度的晕动病。我们发现观察者对运动视差提示的敏感性可预测晕车症状的严重程度。我们还评估了另一项报道的VR运动病严重程度变异性（即性别）的证据，但没有发现任何证据。我们推测以前报道的性别差异可能是由于VR显示器的个性化不佳所致，VR显示器默认为男性设置，并为大多数女性引入了提示冲突。我们的结果确定了基于敏感性的晕车感官预测器，可用于个性化VR体验并减轻不适感。我们推测以前报道的性别差异可能是由于VR显示器的个性化不佳所致，VR显示器默认为男性设置，并为大多数女性引入了提示冲突。我们的结果确定了基于敏感性的晕车感官预测器，可用于个性化VR体验并减轻不适感。我们推测以前报道的性别差异可能是由于VR显示器的个性化不佳所致，VR显示器默认为男性设置，并为大多数女性引入了提示冲突。我们的结果确定了基于敏感性的晕车感官预测器，可用于个性化VR体验并减轻不适感。