Anticipatory vibrotactile cues about upcoming turns reduce motion sickness: A study with car passengers on public roads.

The introduction of automated driving brings improvements towards comfort and enables all passengers to use their time more efficiently. However, the more the occupant engages in tasks unrelated to driving, the risk of massive discomfort caused by motion sickness or more specifically carsickness, increases. The development of carsickness includes symptoms such as dizziness or nausea and depends, among other factors, on the occupants' ability to anticipate upcoming vehicle movements. The present study investigated whether anticipatory vibrotactile cues, focused exclusively on lateral maneuvers (turns) and tested in real-world driving conditions, can reduce passengers' carsickness. In a counterbalanced within-subjects design, 40 participants experienced two 30-min rides on public roads. During the ride, all participants watched a movie and were asked every minute about their current subjective carsickness level, using the Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS). In the intervention condition, upcoming right and left turns were announced 1 s in advance by cues via a vibrotactile belt. In the control condition, passengers merely wore the belt but did not receive such cues. We found that anticipatory vibrotactile cues about upcoming right and left turns have a mitigating effect on the level of carsickness.