VR/AR for Users with Tic Disorders: Challenges and Opportunities

Tics — sudden and irresistible movements, sounds, or behaviour of people — can severely impact people’s lives. Interactive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) can potentially act as entertainment and productivity technologies that can handle tics. However, current AR/VR technologies are not ready for many people with tics as the tic itself — especially motor tics — prevents usage as many user interfaces rely on hand-, head- and eye-interaction. However, these body parts often affect motor tics, preventing an enjoyable, immersive experience. In this position paper, we outline the basics of tic disorders, connect tic disorders to head-mounted displays, and outline challenges and opportunities. By scoping literature and relying on anecdotal data, we speculate on whether and how we can design immersive applications and technologies for people with tic disorders. We stress that working with users and the availability of public data sets is essential for research and development. The prediction, filtering, or leveraging of tic-induced motion patterns especially seems to be a promising research avenue. In addition, we outline potential strategies such as input remapping and modifying the audiovisual output of the HMD could be improved to prevent or inhibit tics. Overall, we open the discussion about the design of immersive experiences for people with tic disorders.