Mind the Visual Discomfort: Assessing Event-Related Potentials as Indicators for Visual Strain in Head-Mounted Displays

TL;DR

This study explores the use of EEG to objectively detect visual discomfort caused by different levels of blur in head-mounted displays, aiming to improve real-time assessment and prevention of eye strain.

Contribution

It demonstrates that specific ERP components can reliably indicate visual discomfort, enabling automatic detection and potential mitigation in HMD usage.

Findings

ERP components P1, N2, and P3 discriminate discomfort levels

EEG can index increased visual load and fatigue

Proposes EEG-based tools for discomfort detection

Abstract

When using Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs), users may not always notice or report visual discomfort by blurred vision through unadjusted lenses, motion sickness, and increased eye strain. Current measures for visual discomfort rely on users' self-reports those susceptible to subjective differences and lack of real-time insights. In this work, we investigate if Electroencephalography (EEG) can objectively measure visual discomfort by sensing Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). In a user study (N=20), we compare four different levels of Gaussian blur in a user study while measuring ERPs at occipito-parietal EEG electrodes. The findings reveal that specific ERP components (i.e., P1, N2, and P3) discriminated discomfort-related visual stimuli and indexed increased load on visual processing and fatigue. We conclude that time-locked brain activity can be used to evaluate visual discomfort and propose EEG-based automatic discomfort detection and prevention tools.