A shady side to driverless cars?
It’s been said that in just two years’ time, by 2020, driverless cars could become the norm. Picture this - families hitting the motorway in the back of their driverless car, all facing each other and chatting as they read, play computer games and do whatever it is they want to do for entertainment. Basically, anything but drive.
Sounds ideal until you remember that bout of motion sickness you had when you last read a book on a long bus journey - imagine an entire family feeling queasy in the back of a car!
The theory is that motion sickness is caused by a confusion in your body’s sensory inputs. While you’re driving, you’re watching the road and can see that you’re moving, but when you’re sat in the back of a car looking at the seat in-front, or reading a book, motion sickness can strike.
This could all spell a bit of a disaster for driverless cars. To combat this risk, researchers at the University of Michigan have been looking into eyewear that could reduce the risk of sickness. They’ve come up with glasses that would connect to a car’s main system and send light signals which are the same as the driver would see, to the passenger’s peripheral vision. The hope is that this would reduce the conflicting signals that cause motion sickness.
It’ll be interested to see where this research goes. Would it be possible to read and wear the glasses at the same time for example? In the meanwhile, here are some tips on how a passenger can avoid motion sickness in a regular vehicle…
www.lowcostvans.co.uk
Sounds ideal until you remember that bout of motion sickness you had when you last read a book on a long bus journey - imagine an entire family feeling queasy in the back of a car!
The theory is that motion sickness is caused by a confusion in your body’s sensory inputs. While you’re driving, you’re watching the road and can see that you’re moving, but when you’re sat in the back of a car looking at the seat in-front, or reading a book, motion sickness can strike.
This could all spell a bit of a disaster for driverless cars. To combat this risk, researchers at the University of Michigan have been looking into eyewear that could reduce the risk of sickness. They’ve come up with glasses that would connect to a car’s main system and send light signals which are the same as the driver would see, to the passenger’s peripheral vision. The hope is that this would reduce the conflicting signals that cause motion sickness.
It’ll be interested to see where this research goes. Would it be possible to read and wear the glasses at the same time for example? In the meanwhile, here are some tips on how a passenger can avoid motion sickness in a regular vehicle…
- It’s best if you can stay as still as possible, particularly your head
- Fix your eyes on a point in the horizon
- Or, if possible, close your eyes and have a sleep
- Avoid heavy food or large amounts of alcohol before getting in the car. Ask fellow passengers not to bring odious food into the car as that won’t help
- Try and leave a window a little bit open as fresh air can make a big difference
www.lowcostvans.co.uk
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