Examining usability of a virtual reality driving simulator

Statement of Problem: The current study examined specific aspects of usability of a newly developed VR Driver Rehabilitation (VR-DR) system. Method: Measures of user feedback and user-comfort were examined among 54 participants, 33 individuals with acquired brain injury [20 with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 13 with cerebral vascular accident (CVA)] and 21 healthy controls (HC). All participants were administered the VR-DR and completed the VR-DR User Feedback Questionnaire. Results: To examine group differences a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, comparing the User Feedback total score between the three groups. The results indicated that the two clinical populations (TBI and CVA) varied from the non-clinical population (HC). A standard multiple regression analysis revealed that age was the only significant participant factor that contributed to the differences in user feedback ratings. Finally, consistent across the three groups, a distinct relationship was found between the self-reported user rating and the onset of simulation sickness. Conclusions: The current findings indicated that individuals with TBI and CVA provided less favorable user-feedback ratings than HC in the use of a new VR-DR system. This difference was not accounted by differences in gender, education or cognitive status, and only slightly accounted for by age. Delineating these various aspects of user-feedback can assist in identifying potential confounds in VR-DR performance and help refine the application of the VR-DR for clinical decision-making.