  Virtual reality head-mounted displays (VR HMDs) have become a popular
platform for gaming. However, simulator sickness (SS) is still an impediment to
VR's wider adoption, particularly in gaming. It can induce strong discomfort
and impair players' immersion, performance, and enjoyment. Researchers have
explored techniques to mitigate SS. While these techniques have been shown to
help lessen SS, they may not be applicable to games because they cannot be
easily integrated into various types of games without impacting gameplay,
immersion, and performance. In this research, we introduce a new SS mitigation
technique, VRCockpit. VRCockpit is a visual technique that surrounds the player
with four 2D views, one for each cardinal direction, that show 2D copies of the
areas of the 3D environment around the player. To study its effectiveness, we
conducted two different experiments, one with a car racing game, followed by a
first-person shooter game. Our results show that VRCockpit has the potential to
mitigate SS and still allows players to have the same level of immersion and
gameplay performance.
