Study: Self-driving cars will increase motion sickness …unless we retrain our brains to improve visuospatial skills

Is brain training the cure for car sickness? (The Sunday Times): RESEARCHERS from the University of Warwick think they’ve found the cure for motion sickness, a condition to which a third of people are highly susceptible and from which anyone can suffer. The implications could be significant should fully driverless vehicles become a reality, with passengers predicted to be more susceptible to nausea while working, reading or watching screens during travel. According to the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), who undertook the study, “visuospatial training exercises” can train the brain to reduce motion sickness by more than 50%. These include typical “brain training” exercises such as looking at a pattern of boxes and trying to match it with a rotated version of the same shape, as well as paper folding tasks and more. The Study: A novel method for reducing motion sickness susceptibility through training visuospatial ability – A two-part study (Applied Ergonomics). Abstract: Everyone can be susceptible to motion sickness (except those with complete loss of labyrinth function) and around one in three are known to be servery susceptible. Motion sickness can be experienced in many domains, including car travel, on a boat, using virtual reality headsets and simulator use amongst others. It is expected that due to potential designs and use cases, self-driving cars will increase motion sickness onset likelihood and severity for many car travellers. Besides medication, the...
Source: SharpBrains - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Peak Performance Technology brain training brain-training-exercises cognitive-abilities ergonomics motion sickness self-driving cars self-driving vehicles simulator train the brain virtual Source Type: blogs