There is an ambiguity in the use of the term ``simulator sickness''. In informal usage, ``simulator sickness'' tends to refer to the generic experience of feeling sick as a result of exposure to computer-generated stimuli. However, it is frequently used in a more restricted sense, as including only the sickness caused by poor simulations. For instance, Pausch et al. [74] mention that ``The term simulator sickness is typically used to refer to sickness caused by the incorrect aspects of the simulation, not sickness caused by a correct simulation of a nauseating experience, such as a turbulent airplane flight.'' Elsewhere in the same special issue on simulator sickness, one may find ``simulator sickness'' used in the more generic sense. For instance, in the preceding article Biocca [13] states that ``Simulator sickness is the term that has been attached to a host of symptoms associated with visual and vestibular disturbances that resemble motion sickness.'' The generic usage of ``simulator sickness'' is implicit in the title of the special issue, ``Spotlight On: Simulator Sickness'' (covering all sickness symptoms induced by simulators).
To take another example of the generic usage, Kennedy et al.'s widely-used ``Simulator Sickness Questionnaire'' [55] records motion sickness symptoms.
It appears that there are three ideas present for which only two terms are in wide-spread use. The best solution is to introduce a third term. The three ideas are:
There is general agreement that ``2'' should be referred to as ``motion sickness''. The problem lies with ``1'' and ``3''. Both are important ideas, and the term ``simulator sickness'' tends to oscillate between them depending on the topic of discussion. For our own work, Mark Draper and I at the HITL found it convenient to use ``simulator sickness'' to refer to ``1'', and to introduce the term ``interface sickness'' to refer to ``3''. ``Simulator sickness'' is thus used in the generic sense (``1'') in this dissertation.