使用虛擬實境眼鏡對於視覺敏銳度、認知記憶力以及疲勞、舒適程度的影響

Abstract

近幾年由於虛擬實境技術發展的突破，虛擬實境技術應用開始蓬勃發展。大家也開始探討使用虛擬實境技術可能造成的負面影響。已有研究顯示配戴虛擬實境眼鏡進行模擬體驗容易造成頭部暈眩與眼睛疲勞。本研究目的欲了解長時間使用虛擬實境眼鏡觀看影片是否會對視覺敏銳度、視覺認知記憶力，以及視覺舒適與疲勞程度造成影響。 本研究招募20-35歲的36位志願者參加試驗，其中男性20位、女性16位。受試者必需沒有心臟病、精神疾病或其他重大眼疾，但矯正後視力正常者不在此限。所有受試者均安排在中午12點至下午6點間進行實驗，受試者需分別接受長時間與短時間觀看虛擬實境影片之實驗，並在實驗前後進行視覺表現與眼睛疲勞測驗，兩次實驗之間至少間隔一個禮拜，且參與長時間或短時間測驗的先後順序以隨機分派方式分組。本研究視覺表現與眼睛疲勞測驗項目包含三大面向： (1)視覺敏銳度: 使用紙本的視力表以及視覺對比度表來測試、(2)視覺認知記憶力:使用色棋以及維也納追蹤系統檢測、 (3)視覺疲勞舒適程度: 使用閃光融合閾值儀以及兩份主觀評量問卷來評估。 本研究結果發現: (1)觀看虛擬實境短時間影片之受試者的右眼視力在前後測之間達顯著增加 (p=0.001)；(2)受試者的視覺對比度在前後測之間並無顯著差異；(3)受試者色棋測驗所需時間在前後測之間達到統計上的顯著減少 (p=0.003)；(4)受試者維也納視覺追蹤測驗分數在前後測之間達到統計上的顯著增加 (p=0.019)；(5)受試者閃光融合閾值與受試者年齡(p<0.001)、每週平均電腦使用時間(p=0.002)、每日最長使用電腦時間(p<0.001)有顯著負相關；(6)受試者主觀視覺疲勞度問卷調查結果在前後測之間有顯著增加(p=0.001~0.032)，長時間觀看虛擬實境組別受試者比短時間組的視覺疲勞程度較為明顯；(7)視覺舒適程度問卷調查結果顯示受試者在短時間觀看虛擬實境影片後會造成視覺不適度有顯著增加(p=0.012~0.043) ，但在長時間組別卻未造成顯著差異。 綜合文獻回顧與本研究結果顯示，觀看虛擬實境影片會造成視覺認知記憶力、視覺疲勞與舒適程度之影響，其中以視覺不適與疲勞最為明顯。使用虛擬實境影片作業可能會對視覺認知表現造成負面影響，使用者應了解其潛在的視覺負荷風險。使用虛擬實境設備對於眼睛不適症狀與視覺表現的潛在風險值得更進一步的關注與研究，以保障使用者的安全與健康。

In recent years, virtual reality technology has had a breakthrough, and has begun to successfully develop and is being widely applied. As people begin to explore new virtual reality technologies that can be applied at a practical level, scholars have begun to focus on visual performance, and some are exploring the potential negative impact of the use of virtual reality. Previous studies reported that wearing virtual reality device for film-watching might cause dizziness and visual fatigue. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether the use of virtual reality to watch a film for a period of time will affect visual acuity, visual cognitive memory, visual comfort, and fatigue. In this study, 36 participants (20 males and 16 females) aged 20–35 years were invited to participate, excluding those with heart disease, mental illness, or severe eye disease but not those with corrected-to-normal vision. All participants were arranged for experiments in the afternoon between 12:00 and 18:00 hours. Participants were randomly assigned to watch long and short virtual reality films, respectively, with at least one week intermittence between these two film-watchings. All participants were examined for their comprehensive visual performance before and after virtual reality film-watching, including (1) visual acuity: measured by the visual acuity scale and visual contrast table, (2) visual cognitive memory: by the color chess test and Vienna tracking system, and (3) visual fatigue comfort: by flicker fusion threshold and two subjective assessment questionnaires. The results of this study were as follows: (1) significant difference was found in the right visual acuity of the participants between before and after the test of watching a short virtual reality film (p=0.001), (2) there was no significant difference in visual contrast of the participants between before and after tests, (3) time required for color chess test was statistically significantly correlated between before and after tests (p=0.003), (4) there was a statistically significant correlation between before and after tests for the Vienna visual tracking scores of the study participants(p=0.019), (5) the participants’ flicker fusion threshold was associated with the participants’ ages(p<0.001), the average computer-use time per week(p=0.002), and the longest daily computer use time(p<0.001), (6) the participants’ visual fatigue significantly differed between before and after tests (p=0.001~0.032), with visual fatigue more obvious after watching long virtual reality film as compared to watching short film, (7) visual discomfort was observed for the group watching short film but not for the group watching long film. (p=0.012~0.043). In summary, the results of this study show that watching virtual reality film would affect visual cognitive memory, visual fatigue, and comfort, with visual discomfort and fatigue most obvious. Watching virtual reality film might impose negative impact on visual cognitive performance, and users should be aware of its potential risk. It’s deserved to pay more attention to the impact of using virtual reality device on eye discomfort and visual performance in order to protect users’ safety and health.