QP - A Tilting Interface for Motion Sickness
Motion sickness in vehicles is elevated when passengers perform visual tasks like reading, messaging, and navigating. While the increase in the number of autonomous vehicles liberates people from driving, today’s busy lifestyles create a need for passengers to perform these tasks during their commute. QP is a tilting software interface that helps reduce passengers’ motion sickness while they perform tasks on their digital devices. The concept of tilting the user’s head in sync with the car’s lateral acceleration has proven to be effective in reducing motion sickness.
The Problem
One in every three people experiences high levels of motion sickness. Motion sickness is further elevated when people perform tasks like reading, messaging, and navigating. With the increased need to be productive in today’s world, and with the increase in the number of autonomous cars, passengers find the need to perform these tasks.
Research- Motion Sickness in Vehicles
Motion sickness in vehicles is experienced when the eyes signal to the brain that the body is still whereas the inner ears and other parts of the body signal that the body is in motion.
Motion sickness is a common condition characterized by a feeling of unwellness brought on by certain kinds of movement.
The lateral acceleration of the vehicle (turning left and turning right) predominantly causes motion sickness.
It is known that drivers don’t feel motion sickness but passengers do.
Active head-tilt against the lateral acceleration of the vehicle, just like the driver does while driving, significantly reduces motion sickness in passengers too.
Design Solution
An interface that assists users to tilt their head in response to the lateral acceleration of the car.
1. The interface responds to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle by receiving real time lateral acceleration data from an accelerometer placed in the vehicle.
2. An interface that assists users to tilt their head in response to the lateral acceleration of the car.
3. The user tilts their head in the same direction of the interface tilt (towards the center of the curve) in response to the interface tilt, to better read the interface.
Design for head tilt angles of -40 degrees to 40 degrees.
Higher acceleration should correspond to a higher tilt angle.
Design Considerations
Provide gradual tilt of interface, to assist users to tilt their head.
Filter out jerky motions of the vehicle to avoid rapid tilts in the interface.
System Architecture
The Competition and Related Work
KineStop App,
Motion Sickness Glasses
Visual Cues
Efficacy not backed
by research
Motion Sickness Bands / Bracelets
Dramamine
Motion Sickness Pills
Can induce side effects
LIMITATIONS
TYPE
EXAMPLES
High in price or very
low effectivity
Acustimulation Bracelets,
Sea - Band
WHY OUR PRODUCT IS BETTER
Can be used instantly at any desired moment
No known side effects
Significant Reduction in
Motion Sickness
Applicable on any display device
User Testing
We tested with 5 participants (4 Male and 1 Female), who claimed to normally experience motion sickness and use digital devices like tablets or mobile phones while commuting.
The study was conducted in an outdoor parking lot under controlled conditions. A single driver performed all drives, having practiced a set driving path, acceleration, and vehicle speed beforehand to guarantee repeatability.
During the experiment, participants read a passage from the tilting QP interface for 10 minutes and were then interviewed to share their experience with the prototype for 5 minutes.
Image processing-based head-roll angle tracking during the test.
Results
Design Changes
Adding a tutorial showing the users how to tilt their head, as the users said that they did not think about tilting their head until they were told about the purpose of the interface.
Fine-tuning of the acceleration-to-tilt conversion factor could probe towards finding the least amount of interface tilt that still effectively induces passenger head-tilt.
