Objective: Motion sickness (MS) can be a debilitating side effect associated with motion in real or virtual environments. We analyzed the effect of expectancy on MS and propose and validate a fast and simple MS measure. Background: Several questionnaires measure MS before or after stimulus presentation, but no satisfactory tool has been established to quickly capture MS data during exposure. To fill this gap, we introduce the Fast MS Scale (FMS), a verbal rating scale ranging from zero (no sickness at all) to 20 (frank sickness). Also, little is known about the role of expectancy effects in MS studies. We conducted an experiment that addressed this issue. Method: For this study, 126 volunteers participated in two experiments. During stimulus presentation, participants had to verbally rate the severity of MS every minute before filling in the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ). To measure expectancy effects, participants were separated into three groups with either positive, negative, or neutral expectations. Results: We compared the verbal ratings with the SSQ scores. Pearson correlations were high for both the SSQ total score (r = .785) and the nausea subscore (r = .828). No expectancy effects were found. Conclusion: The FMS is a fast and valid method to obtain MS data. It offers the possibility to record MS during stimulus presentation and to capture its time course. We found expectancy not to play a crucial role in MS. However, the FMS has some limitations. Application: The FMS offers improved MS measurement. It is fast and efficient and can be performed online in environments such as virtual reality.

The processing of gaze cues plays an important role in social interactions, and mutual gaze in particular is relevant for natural as well as video-mediated communications. Mutual gaze occurs when an observer looks at or in the direction of the eyes of another person. The authors chose the metaphor of a cone of gaze to characterize this range of gaze directions that constitutes "looking at" another person. In 4 experiments using either a real person or a virtual head, the authors investigated the influences of observer distance, head orientation, visibility of the eyes, and the presence of a 2nd head on the perceived direction and width of the gaze cone. The direction of the gaze cone was largely affected by all experimental manipulations, whereas its angular width remained comparatively stable.