Head rotation and muscle activity when conducting document editing tasks with a head-mounted display

Abstract

Potential ergonomic issues associated with the use of a head mounted display (HMD) for office productivity applications have not yet been quantitatively evaluated. A laboratory experiment was conducted to quantitatively evaluate physical stresses and the productivity of the use of HMD. Twenty healthy participants conducted a document editing task for 60 minutes once with an external display and once with a HMD. Head rotation in sagittal and transverse planes, myoelectric activity of neck and shoulder muscles, subjective discomfort ratings and productivity were collected periodically during the task. Results found significantly (p<0.05) greater head rotation movements on both planes, neck muscle activities, and discomfort ratings and decreased productivity when conducting the task with the HMD as compared when using the external display. Difficulty in reading texts due to insufficient resolution of the HMD screen, additional load and neck flexion moment from the weight of the device were responsible for the greater physical stresses associated with the use of HMD.