Cybersickness-aware Tile-based Adaptive 360{\deg} Video Streaming

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel adaptive 360-degree VR video streaming method that jointly optimizes tile selection and cybersickness mitigation using an online algorithm with multiple indicators, improving user experience and video quality.

Contribution

It presents a new online algorithm for tile selection in VR streaming that incorporates cybersickness control metrics, a novel approach not previously explored.

Findings

Outperforms baseline methods in video quality

Reduces cybersickness accumulation effectively

Improves user experience in VR streaming

Abstract

In contrast to traditional videos, the imaging in virtual reality (VR) is 360{\deg}, and it consumes larger bandwidth to transmit video contents. To reduce bandwidth consumption, tile-based streaming has been proposed to deliver the focused part of the video, instead of the whole one. On the other hand, the techniques to alleviate cybersickness, which is akin to motion sickness and happens when using digital displays, have not been jointly explored with the tile selection in VR. In this paper, we investigate Tile Selection with Cybersickness Control (TSCC) in an adaptive 360{\deg} video streaming system with cybersickness alleviation. We propose an m-competitive online algorithm with Cybersickness Indicator (CI) and Video Loss Indicator (VLI) to evaluate instant cybersickness and the total loss of video quality. Moreover, the algorithm exploits Sickness Migration Indicator (SMI) to evaluate the cybersickness accumulated over time and the increase of optical flow to improve the tile quality assignment. Simulations with a real network dataset show that our algorithm outperforms the baselines regarding video quality and cybersickness accumulation.