The accuracy of the Oculus Rift virtual reality head-mounted display during cervical spine mobility measurement

An inertial sensor-embedded virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display, the Oculus Rift (the Rift), monitors head movement so the content displayed can be updated accordingly. While the Rift may have potential use in cervical spine biomechanics studies, its accuracy in terms of cervical spine mobility measurement has not yet been validated. In the current study, a VR environment was designed to guide participants to perform prescribed neck movements. The cervical spine kinematics was measured by both the Rift and a reference motion tracking system. Comparison of the kinematics data between the Rift and the tracking system indicated that the Rift can provide good estimates on full range of motion (from one side to the other side) during the performed task. Because of inertial sensor drifting, the unilateral range of motion (from one side to neutral posture) derived from the Rift is more erroneous. The root-mean-square errors over a 1-min task were within 10° for each rotation axis. The error analysis further indicated that the inertial sensor drifted approximately 6° at the beginning of a trial during the initialization. This needs to be addressed when using the Rift in order to more accurately measure cervical spine kinematics. It is suggested that the front cover of the Rift should be aligned against a vertical plane during its initialization.