The Design of a Virtual Reality App for Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) is a rare balance disorder where individuals develop a persistent perception of phantom movement after a prolonged period of passive motion. A treatment method using visual stimuli in a nonportable physical chamber was used in a clinical setting. To make this method more accessible and portable, we developed a virtual reality solution with a mobile Google Daydream app using the Unity3D graphics engine. Design rationales and trade-offs are discussed in this paper, with an emphasis on human computer interface design and the iterative design process.