Acceleration or velocity? Exploring minimally disruptive visual motion cues for reducing motion sickness in passenger...

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Transportation Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Motion sickness arises from sensory conflict between visual and physical motion.
• Virtual reality (VR) use in moving vehicles exacerbates motion sickness.
• Current matched motion cues can reduce sickness but may distract users from tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate acceleration-based visual mitigations as an alternative to matched motion cues.
• To assess the distraction potential and optimal speed of acceleration-based cues.
• To compare the efficacy of acceleration-based cues against matched motion cues in reducing motion sickness.

Main Methods:

• An on-the-road study was conducted with passengers.
• Acceleration-based visual cues were implemented and evaluated.
• Motion sickness symptoms and user distraction were measured.

Main Results:

• Acceleration-based cues were as effective as matched motion cues in reducing motion sickness.
• These cues provided a significant benefit of low distraction.
• Users could concentrate on non-driving tasks with minimal interruption.

Conclusions:

• Acceleration-based visual mitigations are a viable and effective strategy for motion sickness.
• This approach offers a dual benefit of sickness reduction and low user distraction.
• Future designs for motion sickness mitigation should consider acceleration-based cues.