If you are someone who doesn’t gel well with long distance journeys in cars or buses, then this news will be making you happy. Researchers at the University of Michigan have patented a new type of glasses that will help reduce nausea while travelling in cars. There’s no particular name for this technology right now but you could be seeing it soon in autonomous cars.
The system works on the principle of making your body aware of what is actually happening in the world you. Nausea generally takes place when your sense of motion is completely different from what you are seeing — reading a book in a car is a perfect description of this situation. The patented glasses connect your senses with what’s actually happening outside the car by using light tubes to imitate the car’s movements in your field of vision. So, if the car is swerving right, the light tubes will modify your field of vision to let your eyes see what your body is sensing.
The technology has been developed primarily keeping in mind autonomous cars that will take over the automotive industry very soon. While it is possible to make the technology a part of the car for catering to all the passengers at once, it is more feasible to make it portable. With minimal or no driver inputs, people will be bound to do other activities while travelling, which will make more of them prone to nausea, thus making this technology a much-needed part of your commutes in the future.