Exploring Motion Sickness Mitigation in Self-Driving Vehicles with Anticipatory Interfaces

Exploring Motion Sickness Mitigation in Self-Driving Vehicles with Anticipatory Interfaces: Flashing and Zooming over the Road: Anticipatory Interfaces Mitigate Motion Sickness

Spek, Wouter (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)

Mulder, Max (mentor)
van Paassen, M.M. (mentor)
Wijlens, R. (mentor)
de Winter, J.C.F. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Aerospace Engineering

2023-05-10

This study explored several anticipatory interfaces as motion sickness mitigation tool in autonomously driving vehicles. The interfaces were designed to lower the mismatch between the expected motion and the sensory input in a moving body, by providing anticipatory information on upcoming vehicle motion. The two proposed interfaces were a Light only interface and a Combined interface featuring both light and sound. The interfaces present information on the direction and magnitude proportional to the upcoming vehicle accelerations, 0.9s before the actual event. The interfaces were tested in separate trials and compared to a Baseline trial. The comparison was done by a mixed-order, within-participants experiment (n=18), performed in the SIMONA Research Simulator, with identical 30-minute driving conditions. To test the interfaces’ effectiveness in the most motion sickness-triggering setting, subjects got a reading task on a handheld tablet. The results were quantified on an 11-point motion sickness scale and subjective survey questions. Improvements in motion sickness and subjective experience were found with both interfaces. However, only the Combined interface trial showed significant improvements compare to the Baseline. Neither of the interfaces was considered intrusive, while only the Combined interface was considered comfortable. The survey also clearly favored the Combined interface in scores on timing cor- rectness, intuitiveness, and subjective cue correctness. Although the Combined interface had the best results, strong individual preferences were reported for both interfaces, a hypothetical sound interface, or no interface. Further research is advised to focus on the Combined interface while considering optional light and/or sound disengagement in line with personal preference.

Motion Sickness Mitigation
Automated Vehicles
Anticipatory Interface
Driving Comfort
Sound Interface
Light Interface

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:6c10f4a2-adf5-4195-baf5-df7c85ff4443

2025-05-10

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Wouter Spek