Charge Density and Acceleration Perception in Vestibular Electrical Stimulation

Although research using virtual reality (VR) to present visual information has been conducted in various fields, VR sickness may occur owing to the mismatch between the presented visual information and the user’s vestibular sensation. Therefore, we propose a wearable vestibular sensory presentation method based on galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS). In this study, we conducted experiments to clarify the relationship between the electrode charge density and the acceleration perceived by the subject during GVS. The experimental results revealed a positive correlation between the electrode charge density and the perceived acceleration, where the latter varied linearly with the former in a sitting position. In a standing position, however, the magnitude of the perceived acceleration per 1 C/m² decreased with increasing charge density, indicating a nonlinear relationship between the two. The correspondence between the electrode charge density and the magnitude of perceived acceleration suggests the possibility of presenting arbitrary acceleration by controlling the charge density.