VR Evaluation of Motion Sickness Solution in Automated Driving

The sensory conflict theory describes the occurrence of motion sickness caused by the discrepancy between the motion felt and the motion visually perceived. During driving, drivers monitor the environment while performing driving tasks, this enables them to get the visual perception of the motion felt. Visual cues help drivers to anticipate the direction of movement and thus, eliminate confusion, which could lead to anxiety, and thus motion sickness. Occupants of highly automated vehicles will have the luxury of performing activities such as reading or interacting with their mobile devices while the system performs the driving tasks. However, if the passenger takes his eyes off the surrounding traffic environment, sensory conflict is likely to occur. We implemented a concept in virtual reality to prevent motion sickness during automated driving based on a split screen technology. A part of the screen shows a video capture of the car surrounding in real time, while the other part is free to be used for individual applications. This additional data enables visual cues, which makes it possible to monitor the direction of movement of the vehicle. This minimizes sensory conflict and prevents motion sickness. An experiment was conducted with fourteen participants on a virtual reality automated driving simulator with an integrated motion platform. The result shows that the video streaming of the horizon presented to the passengers on a display helps them to feel comfortable and also reduced motion sickness during automated driving.