Quantification of mental sweating using a flight simulator

We attempt to quantify mental excitement in a VR environment. Specifically, the study tracked the amount of water evaporating from the palm over time as the subject maneuvered a flight simulator application, engaging in simulations of difficult or dangerous flights. The consumer software application Fight Simulator 98 (VR) was used as VR content on a PC running Windows 98. In this simulation, the flight begins at Tokyo Haneda Airport, where a jumbo jet takes off toward the south, rising in altitude. The subject is free to select from several stimulating or dangerous flights in advance, and is free to maneuver the plane as its pilot. This thrilling flight is not entirely realistic, although the plane takes off and lands in a specified airport with a real-world counterpart. The volume of water measured from the skin of all five subjects increased synchronously with the thrilling flight, though with some individual variations in volume. This phenomena were considered to represent episodes of mental sweating. Thrilling flights in a flight simulator ⇒ fear of crashing ⇒ neural arousal (rapid responses of visual and motor fields) ⇒ excitation of hypothalamus ⇒ (increased) blood flow of capillary arteries of the skin ⇒ (increased) volume of water from the skin. Current game systems are unable to sense player excitement. Interactive VR systems or game systems with programs capable of detecting player arousal have many potential applications.