(in German)

In this report two laboratory studies are described in detail which took place in the framework of the project F 2288 "Head-Mounted Displays - conditions for safe and strain-optimal use" conducted by the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Germany (BAuA). Focus of these studies was the mental strain during several hours of work with head-mounted displays (HMDs). For this purpose, a construction task and a parallel monitoring task was performed, while the work content was presented either on an HMD or tablet-PC for comparison. In the first study an industrial HMD was used and in the shorter replication study a HMD from the consumer sector.

The present work waives a thematic introduction and description of use cases, as this took place in the previous report "Physical strain while using HMDs". After a brief description of the aim of the study methods are presented in detail. The following is a description of test process and especially for the characteristic value of heart rate variation, a detailed description of the data processing and filters used. In the results the previous formulated hypotheses are tested individually. Following the second study, the results of both studies are compared. Finally, the results are discussed in terms of the factors "compared with a tablet PC" and "habituation effects on the HMD" and recommendations for the design and use of HMDs with direct reference to the findings are given.

Please download the complete report "Head-mounted displays - How to increase safety and reduce physical strain: Psychological strain while using HMDs" (in German only).