Design Strategies to Alleviate Motion Sickness in Rear Seat Passengers - A Test Track Study

In-vehicle activities such as reading, writing or watching videos rapidly lead to signs and symptoms of motion sickness and is of particular concern in rear-seat passengers and future shared and / or automated vehicles. In this test track study, we evaluated several design strategies to alleviate motion discomfort in rear seat passengers who were exposed to a longitudinal motion profile of repeated vehicle accelerations and decelerations whilst using an e-reader. Results showed that the manipulations affecting vehicle accelerations and pitch angles failed to reduce motion sickness. Providing passengers with lateral optic flow indicating instantaneous actual vehicle speed and predictive motion cues using a visual ambient display reduced motion sickness consistency, albeit statistically non-significant. Yet, with all the above strategies combined in the wellness pack condition, a statistically significant and large (28
^%
) reduction in carsickness was observed. Future research will benefit from exploring these possible interactions and suggest that effective motion sickness management may require a multipronged approach.