Deployment of a Preemption based Motion Sickness Prevention Technology on a Testbed Vehicle in Mcity

Abstract

Motion sickness when traveling in a vehicle is a common condition that afflicts one in three adults in the US. Moreover, passengers who are not driving the vehicle experience such motion sickness more acutely compared to the driver of the vehicle. This is due to the driver’s ability to make anticipatory corrections when initiating a driving action that involves acceleration (e.g. speeding up, breaking, or taking turns). These anticipatory corrections by the driver (such as tightening their abdominal core muscles when braking or leaning their body/head into the direction of the turn when turning) help prepare the driver for the accelerations associated with the driving actions slightly ahead of time, whereas the passenger ends up passively reacting to these driving actions. With the impending transformation in ground transportation due to autonomous vehicles, where every occupant is a passive passenger, the deleterious effects of motion sickness on the passenger comfort and productivity during their commute is expected to be significant. The goal of this research project was to develop an experimental vehicle testbed and passenger instrumentation for testing motion sickness mitigation solutions that employ preemptive stimuli provided to passengers in autonomous vehicles. Towards this goal, this project has led to the development of several key experimental modules and testing protocols, including a vehicle testbed comprising an active seat (with embedded haptic motors) for providing preemptive stimuli, extensive instrumentation to measure the states of the vehicle and the passenger, an Mcity drive path that is representative of city and highway driving, an automatic triggering scheme to preemptively actuate the haptic stimuli based on this drive path, and an IRB approved human subject testing protocol. The vehicle was designed to emulate an autonomous vehicle riding experience for the passenger. This experimental setup was then used to conduct a human subject study to quantify passenger motion sickness response while performing representative task along with preemptively triggered haptic stimuli. Twenty-four healthy adults with varying levels of self-reported motion sickness susceptibility participated in the study on the Mcity test track in the above vehicle testbed. The data showed a statistically significant reduction in motion sickness as a result of preemptive haptic stimuli.